Jimmy Kimmel is back, and he has a lot to say.
Six days after ABC temporarily suspended his talk show, Kimmel, 57, opened his Tuesday, September 23, episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! with a series of news clips claiming his first monologue back would be the most “pivotal moment” in recent broadcast history. The cameras then cut to the late night host and his sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez, who were dressed up in a mouse and bananas suit, respectively.
Kimmel then took the stage for real, walking out to thunderous applause and a standing ovation where the crowd began chanting, “Jimmy! Jimmy!”
“If you’re just joining us we’re pre-empting your regularly scheduled programming of Celebrity Family Feud to bring you this special report,” Kimmel began, jokingly referring to what aired in place of his show during his suspension. “I”m happy to be here tonight with you. I’m not sure who had a weirder 48 hours: me or the CEO of Tylenol. It’s been overwhelming. I’ve heard form a lot of people over the last six days. I’ve hard form all the people in the last six days. Everyone I have ever known has reached out 10 or 11 times. Characters from my past, the guy who fired me from my first radio job in Seattle — where we are not airing tonight by the way — his name is Larry.”
Jimmy Kimmel broke his silence after ABC briefly pulledhis hit late night show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, off the air. “Missing this guy today,” he captioned an Instagram post on Tuesday, September 23, sharing a photo of himself with the late Norman Lear. (Lear, who died in December 2023, was outspoken about his support for the […]
After a throwback story about getting the boot by Larry in 1989, Kimmel pivoted to thanking his fellow late night hosts including Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert — “Who has found himself in this predicament,” Kimmel said — and “even” Jay Leno.
Kimmel noted that hosts from other countries also reached out to him, including one guy from Germany. “Can you imagine? This country has become so authoritarian the German’s are like, ‘Come here!’” he joked.
He also thanked fans of the show and viewers, many of who canceled their Disney+ subscriptions over the past week.
“You supported our show cared enough to do something about it to make your voices heard so that mine could be heard and I will never forget it,” he said, also thanking people like Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens, who he “never imagined” he’d receive support from.
“It takes courage to speak out against this administration and they did and they deserve credit for it and thanks,” he said. “For telling their followers that our government cannot be control what we do and do not say and TV.”
Kimmel than clarified his comments about Charlie Kirk’s death while holding back tears.
“I’ve been hearing a lot about what I need to do and say tonight and the truth is, I don’t think what I have to say is going ot make much of a difference. if you like me you like me, if you don’t, I have no illusions of changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make something clear because it’s important to me as a human: it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”
He continued, “I posted a message on Instagram on the day [Charlie] was killed sending my love to his family asking for compassion, and I meant it and I still do. Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was a deeply disturbed individual. That was actually the opposite of the point I was trying to make but I understand to some that felt either ill timed or unclear or maybe both.”
Kimmel noted that he understands why some people were “upset,” noting he has “many friends and family members on the ‘other side’ who I love and remain close to even thought we don’t agree on politics at all.”
Tuesday’s episode, which features guest Glen Powell and musical artist Sarah McLachlan, marked the talk show’s return nearly one week after it was abruptly pulled from the air.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be pre-empted indefinitely,” a spokesperson for ABC told Us Weekly in a statement on September 17.
The move came after Kimmel sparked backlash with comments he made about the killing of conservative pundit Charlie Kirk.
During the September 15 episode of Live!, Kimmel spoke about Tyler Robinson, the man who was accused of fatally shooting Kirk at Utah Valley University on September 10.
“The MAGA Gang [is] desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
Kimmel also joked about the way President Donald Trump responded to a reporter who asked how he was doing after Kirk’s death. (Trump, 79, said, “I think very good,” and moved on to discussing the White House ballroom’s remodel.)
“He’s at the fourth stage of grief: construction,” Kimmel added. “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish, OK?”
Jimmy Kimmel Disney/Randy Holmes
Following these remarks, Nexstar Media, which owns multiple TV stations, told Variety that it “strongly objects” to the TV host’s remarks and would be replacing his show with other programming for the “foreseeable future.”
Meanwhile, Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, threatened ABC, Disney and Kimmel in response to the comedian’s comments.
“There’s calls for Kimmel to be fired,” Carr said on Benny Johnson’s YouTube show on September 17. “I think you could certainly see a path forward for suspension over this. … Frankly, when we see stuff like this, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
The decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! sparked outrage among fans and celebrities, with many calling for a boycott of Disney, which owns ABC.
After 22 years on the air, Jimmy Kimmel’s eponymous Jimmy Kimmel Live! was abruptly pulled from broadcast in September 2025. “Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be pre-empted indefinitely,” a spokesperson for ABC told Us Weekly in a statement at the time. Kimmel did not immediately address the show’s abrupt pause, which included recently taped episodes being […]
The Walt Disney Company announced its decision to bring the show back on Monday, September 22.
“Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country,” the company told Us in a statement. “It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”
The Sinclair Broadcast Group, which demanded that Kimmel apologize to Kirk’s family and “make a meaningful personal donation” to them and to Kirk’s nonprofit organization, has stated that it will continue preempting the talk show across its 38 affiliate stations. Nexstar announced plans to do the same.
While Kimmel never spoke publicly about the suspension prior to his talk show coming back, he did return to social media hours before Tuesday’s episode to pay tribute to the late Norman Lear — an outspoken supporter of the First Amendment.
“Missing this guy today,” he captioned a photo of himself and the screenwriter, who died at age 101 in December 2023.
