Jimmy Kimmel returned to his late-night show Tuesday night, urging viewers to stand up to President Trump’s threat. Shortly before Kimmel’s show aired, the president released a new statement criticizing Kimmel’s network, ABC.
Kimmel slammed “anti-American” efforts to restrict free speech in the United States in an eloquent and emotional monologue, signaling that he will not tone down his criticism of the president following a nearly week-long suspension of his show due to pressure from the Trump administration.
“This show is not important,” Kimmel told the audience. “What’s important is that we live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”
Kimmel discussed spending time with comedians from countries where people “get thrown in prison for making fun of those in power, and worse.”
“They know how lucky we are here,” Kimmel said. “Our freedom to speak is what they admire most about this country, and that’s something I’m embarrassed to say I took for granted until they pulled my friend Stephen off the air,” a reference to CBS host Stephen Colbert, “and attempted to coerce the affiliates who run our show in the cities that you live in to take my show off the air. That is not legal. That is not American. “That is un-American.”
Kimmel predicted that ABC and its parent company, Disney, would face increased scrutiny from the Trump administration for resuming his show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” days after Trump incorrectly claimed Kimmel had been fired.
Noting that Trump has openly supported Kimmel’s cancellation, and thus the loss of work for his staffers, the comedian said, “Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke.”
Then Kimmel mentioned that Trump has also called on NBC to fire “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon. “I hope that if that happens, or if there’s even any hint of that happening, you will be ten times as loud as you were this week,” Kimmel said on Monday. “We have to speak out against this,” he said to the cheers of his studio audience.
According to attendees, Kimmel received a several-minute standing ovation when he walked on stage for Tuesday’s taping.
Kimmel, clearly in tears, expressed gratitude to those who had supported him during his suspension, including a long list of fellow comedians. “Maybe most of all,” he replied. “I want to thank the people who don’t support my show and what I believe, but support my right to share those beliefs anyway.”
He named conservative media and political figures such as Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Candace Owens, Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, and “even my old pal Ted Cruz,” alluding to Kimmel’s previous ruthless mockery of Sen. Cruz.
The Emmy-winning host became visibly emotional as he addressed his Sept. 15 remarks about Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer, which prompted ABC to halt production of his show.
“It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” Kimmel told the crowd. “Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual.”
Kimmel also praised Kirk’s widow, Erika, for her speech at Sunday’s memorial service about forgiving her husband’s assassin.
“It touched me deeply,” said the man, “and I hope it touches many, and if there’s anything we should take from this tragedy to carry forward, I hope it can be that.”
‘Not happy’ with his suspension
Last week, a conservative outcry erupted when Kimmel claimed that the “MAGA gang” was “desperately trying” to portray the suspect “as anything other than one of them.” Kimmel also claimed that Trump supporters were “doing everything they can to score political points” from the assassination.
After Kimmel’s comments were made public on right-wing websites and TV shows, Trump-aligned FCC chairman Carr called it “the sickest conduct possible” and suggested that the FCC revoke ABC affiliate licenses.
Carr has since played down his role in the Kimmel drama, portraying it as a conflict between local station owners and the national network. However, some of these local owners, such as Nexstar, which is attempting to merge with another major station group, Tegna, have pending business before the FCC, making them particularly vulnerable to Carr’s public pressure.
Both Nexstar and Sinclair informed ABC that they planned to preempt Kimmel’s show last Wednesday, which contributed to the network’s decision to cancel the late-night show nationwide. Hollywood executives were astounded; free speech organizations were outraged; and the incident sparked a multi-day news cycle about free speech and corporate capitulation to political pressure.
People cancelled their Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions in response to widespread criticism of Kimmel’s suspension, though the overall impact of the grassroots boycott is unclear. Kimmel joked Tuesday night that Disney asked him to read aloud some instructions for reactivating Disney+ subscriptions.
With the show on hiatus last week, Disney CEO Bob Iger and his leadership team attempted to lower the temperature and get Kimmel back on the air.
Following discussions with Kimmel’s attorneys, Disney announced that the show would resume production on Tuesday.
In a statement, the company gently chastised Kimmel, describing the aftermath of the Kirk killing as a “emotional moment for our country” and saying “we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.”
Kimmel stated on air Tuesday night that he “was not happy” with the suspension. But mostly, he thanked Disney for “allowing me to use their platform” night after night.
He also made fun of the fact that Tuesday’s show was canceled in dozens of markets across the United States, including major cities such as Washington, DC, Seattle, and Nashville. That’s because Sinclair and Nexstar are still protesting Kimmel.
Kimmel, as usual, made some jokes about Trump. He posted a video of Trump on Air Force One last week, criticizing Kimmel for having “no ratings.”
Kimmel then responded on stage: “Well, I do tonight.”
Trump goes after ABC
About an hour before the broadcast, Trump weighed in on ABC’s restoration of the show for the first time, saying on Truth Social that “the White House was told by ABC that his show was cancelled!”
Trump once again used his political platform to threaten ABC, saying of Kimmel, “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’ll put ABC to the test on this.”
“Let’s see how we do,” Trump added. “The last time I went after them, they paid me $16 million dollars. “This one sounds even more profitable.”
Last December, Disney agreed to pay Trump approximately $16 million to settle a defamation lawsuit he had filed against ABC.
