It is anticipated that Kimmel will address the controversy that prompted major station groups to discontinue his late-night comedy show when he returns.

Jimmy Kimmel, host of ABC’s late-night show, returned to the airwaves on Tuesday after a hiatus of nearly a week. In the new episode, he addressed the controversy surrounding the channel’s suspension of his show. His eponymous show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, was halted nearly a week after the host made controversial remarks about the alleged assassin of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. These remarks prompted criticism from the Trump administration and some broadcasters.

Kimmel said in a broken voice, “I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make something clear, because it’s important to me as a human, and that is, you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.” He continued, “I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.” What we know about his return is as follows:

What’s the context?
Kirk was shot to death on September 10 while giving a speech at a Utah university event. Police charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson with aggravated murder after a 33-hour manhunt. Based on interviews with Robinson’s relatives, the prosecution later discovered that, despite coming from a family that remained steadfastly Republican, Robinson’s politics had recently shifted to the left. Before those details emerged, Kimmel had taken aim at Trump and his supporters, accusing the “MAGA gang” of twisting the story for political gain by claiming the suspect was left-leaning. He also mocked Trump’s response to Kirk’s death – noting that while the president called the slain activist a close friend, he also digressed into remarks about White House renovations – dismissing it as childish.

A strong backlash resulted from those remarks. Nexstar and Sinclair pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! on September 17th. from their places of work. When Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr called for action to be taken against ABC, Disney, and Kimmel, the controversy got even worse. Some people thought this was too much government control. Using the hashtags #CancelDisney and #CancelABC, some viewers began a boycott of Disney+, Hulu, and ABC in the days that followed.

What are our understandings of Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue? Kimmel returned to his late-night stage with an emotional monologue that ran about 18 minutes, addressing the controversy that had kept his show off the air.
He emphasized that he had never intended to assign blame for Kirk’s murder to any group. However, he also criticized efforts to silence comedians by regulators, particularly the FCC. “That’s not legal. That is not patriotic. “It’s not American,” Kimmel declared. He expressed gratitude to those who had supported him, including his fellow late-night hosts and even some surprising conservative figures. While he acknowledged that he disagreed with Disney’s decision to cancel his show, he also expressed appreciation to ABC for protecting his right to mock the powerful and allowing him to return to the airwaves. He continued, “Unfortunately, and I think unjustly, this puts them at risk.”