Jimmy Kimmel stepped back into the spotlight, and everyone was watching. After a six-day break from the airwaves, the 57-year-old host started his Tuesday, September 23, episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! with a funny twist. He played news clips that called his return monologue the most important moment in recent network TV. Then, the cameras showed Kimmel dressed as a mouse and his sidekick, Guillermo Rodríguez, as a banana.
Kimmel then walked onto the stage to a huge applause and a standing ovation. The audience chanted his name, "Jimmy! Jimmy!" He quickly joked about what had been on TV in his show’s spot, saying, "If you’re just joining us, we’ve interrupted your regular programming of Celebrity Family Feud to bring you this special report." He added that he was happy to be back. Kimmel said it had been overwhelming, noting, "I don’t know who had a stranger extra 48 hours: me or the CEO of Tylenol." He mentioned getting messages from everyone he knew, even the man who fired him from his first radio job in Seattle in 1989, named Larry.
Kimmel then thanked his fellow late-night hosts for their support. He named Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert—who Kimmel noted "has found himself in this predicament" before—and "even" Jay Leno. He also shared that hosts from other countries, including Germany, reached out. Kimmel made a joke about it, saying, "Can you imagine? This country has become so authoritarian that the Germans say, ‘Come here!’"
He also made sure to thank the show’s loyal fans and viewers. Many of them had canceled their Disney+ subscriptions over the past week to show their support. Kimmel stated, "You supported our show, you cared enough to do something to make your voices heard so that mine could be heard, and I’ll never forget it." Surprisingly, he also thanked conservative figures Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens, saying he "never imagined" he would get their support. "It takes courage to speak out against this administration, and they did it, and they deserve recognition and thanks," he said. He added that they stood up "for telling their followers that our government cannot control what we say or don’t say on television."
Kimmel then took a moment to set the record straight about his previous comments regarding the death of Charlie Kirk. He visibly fought back tears as he spoke. He explained that he had heard many opinions on what he should say, but he felt his words wouldn’t change anyone’s mind. Still, he wanted to be clear. "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 being: I never intended to minimize the seriousness of a young man’s murder. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it."
He continued, "I posted a message on Instagram the day [Charlie] was murdered, sending my love to his family and asking for compassion, and I felt it and I still feel it. Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of a clearly disturbed person. In fact, it was the opposite of what I wanted to convey, but I understand that for some it may have seemed untimely or unclear, or both." Kimmel acknowledged that he understood why some people were "upset." He added that he has "many friends and family members on the ‘other side’ whom I love and with whom I remain close even though we don’t agree on politics at all."
Touching on the importance of the First Amendment, Kimmel lightened the mood with a joke. He claimed his "only condition" for returning to late night was to convince viewers to "reactivate their Disney+ and Hulu accounts." Then he spoke directly about his long history with ABC. "I’ve been lucky enough to work for a company that has allowed me to do the show the way we want to do it for almost 23 years," he explained. "I’ve hosted almost 4,000 shows on ABC, and in all that time, the people who run this network have allowed me to evolve and push the boundaries of what was once traditional for a late-night talk show, even when that made them uncomfortable, which I often do." He expressed gratitude that the network always "defended my right to satirize our leaders and to advocate for the issues that I consider important by allowing me to use their platform."
However, Kimmel admitted he "didn’t like being taken off the air on Wednesday." He disagreed with that decision and made his feelings known. "We had many conversations," he said. "I shared my point of view, they shared theirs. We dialogued about it. And in the end, although they didn’t have to, they really didn’t have to, this is a giant company, we have little attention spans and I am a tiny part of the Disney corporation, they welcomed me back on the air. And I thank them for that, because I know that, unfortunately and I think unfairly, this puts them at risk."
Kimmel ended his heartfelt speech by praising Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow. She had publicly shared that she "forgives" Tyler Robinson, the man accused of her husband’s murder. "There was a moment over the weekend, a very beautiful moment, I don’t know if you saw it. On Sunday, Erika Kirk forgave the man who shot her husband. She forgave him. That’s an example we should follow," he urged. "If you believe in the teachings of Jesus, as I do, there it was. That’s it. A selfless act of grace, forgiveness from a grieving widow. It moved me deeply. And I hope it moves many, and if there’s one thing we should take from this tragedy moving forward, I hope it can be that. Not this."
The show on Tuesday, featuring guest Glen Powell and musical artist Sarah McLachlan, marked the talk show’s return after its abrupt removal from the air. A spokesperson for ABC confirmed to a news outlet on September 17 that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be "suspended indefinitely." This decision came after Kimmel caused a stir with comments he made about the murder of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
During his September 15 episode, Kimmel discussed Tyler Robinson, the man accused of fatally shooting Kirk at Utah Valley University on September 10. Kimmel had stated, "The MAGA [Make America Great Again] gang is desperately trying to show this guy who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything but one of them, and doing everything they can to gain political capital from it." He added, "Amidst the accusations, there was mourning." Kimmel also poked fun at how President Donald Trump, 79, reacted when a reporter asked how he felt about Kirk’s death. Trump reportedly replied, "I think very good," before talking about renovating the White House ballroom. Kimmel quipped, "He’s in the fourth stage of grief: construction. That’s not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. That’s how a four-year-old grieves the death of his goldfish, okay?"
Following these comments, Nexstar Media, which owns several television stations, informed Variety that it "strongly objects" to the host’s words. They stated they would replace his program with other content for the "foreseeable future." Meanwhile, Brendan Carr, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, even threatened ABC, Disney, and Kimmel. On Benny Johnson’s YouTube show on September 17, Carr said, "There are those calling for Kimmel to be fired. I think you could certainly see a path for his suspension in the wake of this… Frankly, when we see things like that, we can do it the easy way or the hard way." The decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! sparked anger among fans and celebrities alike, leading many to call for a boycott of Disney, which owns ABC.
The Walt Disney Company announced its decision to put the show back on the air on Monday, September 22. "Last Wednesday, we decided to suspend production of the show to avoid aggravating an already tense situation at an emotional time for our country," the company told a news outlet in a statement. "We made this decision because we considered some comments to be untimely and, therefore, insensitive. We have spent the last few days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy and, following those talks, we reached the decision to resume the show on Tuesday." Both the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which had demanded Kimmel apologize to Kirk’s family and make a "significant personal donation" to them and Kirk’s non-profit, and Nexstar announced they would proceed with airing the talk show on their affiliate stations.
Though Kimmel remained silent publicly about the suspension before his show’s return, he did make a social media appearance hours before the Tuesday episode. He posted a photo of himself with the late Norman Lear, a strong supporter of the First Amendment, who passed away at 101 in December 2023. Kimmel wrote, "I miss this man today," alongside the picture.