"I'm not sure who had a weirder 48 hours — me, or the CEO of Tylenol," Jimmy Kimmel joked as he opened his show Tuesday night to a standing ovation after nearly a week away.
In a monologue that turned emotional, the comedian choked up addressing the family of Charlie Kirk, the right-wing activist who was killed Sept. 10.
"I've been hearing a lot about what I need to say and do tonight," he said. "And the truth is, I don't think what I have to say is going to make much of a difference … I have no illusions about changing anyone's mind."
Kimmel said, however, that he wanted to make one thing clear: "It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man."
He said he meant it when he posted a message on Instagram sending love to Kirk's family after he was killed. And Kimmel said he understood why some folks were upset last week when he made comments about Kirk's assassination.
But the host also warned about threats to free speech.
"This show isn't important — what's important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this," he said.
The comedian acknowledged that bringing his show back on the air puts Disney at risk, because, he said, the president "can't take a joke."
"We have to speak out against it."
After Kimmel's show taped — and about an hour before it aired on the East Coast — President Trump took to Truth Social to warn ABC.
"I can't believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back," Trump wrote. "The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled! Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his 'talent' was never there. Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who's not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE."
In his post, Trump also hinted at legal action.
"He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution. I think we're going to test ABC out on this."
Kimmel was suspended by ABC and Disney last Wednesday after the Trump administration took issue with his comments about the suspect in Charlie Kirk's killing.
"We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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 on his show last Monday.
Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission, wasn't pleased that the comedian had characterized the suspect as a MAGA conservative. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way," he told podcaster Benny Johnson, taking aim at ABC and Disney. "These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead."
Carr encouraged local stations to push back and refuse to run Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Nexstar and Sinclair, which operate ABC stations around the country, including in Nashville, Salt Lake City, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Seattle, and Portland, Ore., both pulled the show off their airwaves. ABC and Disney then suspended Kimmel indefinitely.
This week, even after Disney said the host would return to his regular 11:35 p.m. ET timeslot on ABC, Sinclair and Nexstar said they would continue preempting the show. Kimmel said that some of his own family couldn't watch on Tuesday.
"Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show's potential return," Sinclair said in a Monday statement.
Nexstar, which needs FCC approval for a multibillion dollar merger with TEGNA, said on Tuesday that it stood by the decision to preempt Kimmel's show, "pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve."
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