Jimmy Kimmel Strikes a Serious Note in His Return to Late Night

An at-times emotional Jimmy Kimmel returned to his eponymous late-night show Tuesday night to a standing ovation, using the opportunity to criticize President Donald Trump for his crackdown on political speech and address his comments about the killing of Charlie Kirk.

“Our freedom to speak is what I admire most about this country. And that’s something I’m embarrassed to say I took for granted until they pulled my friend Stephen [Colbert] off the air and tried to coerce the affiliates who run our show in the cities that you live in to take my show off the air,” Kimmel said, reflecting on the past week. “That’s not legal, that’s not American. That is un-American. And it’s so dangerous.”

Kimmel, as part of an uncharacteristically serious monologue, also addressed last week’s segment about Kirk’s suspected killer, which set off a firestorm that culminated in Disney’s decision to temporarily suspend his show.

“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,” Kimmel said without apologizing directly. “That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make, but to some, that felt ill-timed or unclear or maybe both, and for those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset.”

“If the situation was reversed, there’s a good chance I would have felt the same way,” he added.

Kimmel’s show was pulled last week from ABC after he speculated about the political affiliation of Kirk’s shooter. The network’s decision came just hours after the Federal Communications Commission’s chair, Brenden Carr, threatened to take action against ABC and its local affiliates over Kimmel’s monologue.

Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group, two of the country’s largest owners and operators of local TV stations, quickly announced they would preempt Kimmel’s show in dozens of markets.

Even after ABC and Kimmel negotiated for the show’s return Tuesday night, the broadcasting groups refused to air the show — which Kimmel made light of in his opening monologue.

“If you are just joining us, we are preempting your regularly scheduled encore episode of ‘Celebrity Family Feud,’ we’re bringing you this special report,” Kimmel joked to a round of applause.

Hours before Kimmel’s show returned, President Donald Trump posted to Truth Social in anger that “ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back,” and hinted at future litigation against the network.

“He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution,” Trump posted. “Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.”

Kimmel did not address Trump’s latest comments directly, but spoke out forcefully against the president’s attacks on his critics — and spent time thanking prominent conservative politicians and right-wing media figures who broke with the president recently over his crackdown on political speech.

The show’s musical guest Tuesday was Sarah McLachlan, a Canadian artist who cancelled a performance for Disney on Sunday “in support of free speech.”

In particular, Kimmel pleaded with his viewers to unite in support of free expression and dialogue — the same values that Kirk himself claimed to profess.

The late-night host at one point was nearly brought to tears speaking about Erika Kirk’s eulogy for her late husband, during which she publicly forgave the man accused of fatally shooting him during a speech on a university campus in Utah earlier this month.

“A selfless act of grace, forgiveness from a grieving widow,” Kimmel said. “It touched me deeply, and I hope it — 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.”