What did Jimmy Kimmel say as he returned to ABC? Monologue last night - what did he say about Charlie Kirk comments
Jimmy Kimmel returned to TV screens on Tuesday night after being suspended for his comments after Charlie Kirk's assassination.
Kimmel is among the top talk show personalities in the US. He has emceed the Oscars four times and has hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live! since 2003. During his monologue last Monday, Kimmel said: "We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it."
Disney, which owns ABC, then suspended the show because it "felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive". US President Donald Trump welcomed Kimmel's suspension and suggested that some TV networks should have their licences "taken away" for negative coverage of him.
Hundreds of celebrities signed a letter backing Kimmel, including Meryl Streep and Robert DeNiro. Last night Kimmel’s show returned.
Addressing his comments about Charlie Kirk, Kimmel offered a tearful apology saying it was never his intention to make light of the murder and that it may have been an ill-timed statement. Kimmel said he never wanted to blame any specific group for Kirk's murder and praised Erika Kirk's forgiveness of the killer at a memorial over the weekend.
The comedian thanked those who protested for his return, as well as prominent conservatives who dislike him but didn't support his suspension. Kimmel blasted Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr, who was one of the first to call for his suspension
He also slammed Donald Trump for calling for the axing of his fellow late-night hosts. Hollywood legend and notable Trump critic Robert De Niro appeared in a skit in which he played the new chairman of the FCC. "Speech, it ain't free no more," De Niro quipped.
Actor Glen Powell was Kimmel's first guest back, saying to the host: "I'm just so happy you're back". In the early stage of his opening monologue, he referred to the president’s unsubstantiated claim that pregnant women taking paracetamol could lead to autism by saying: “I’m not sure who had a weirder 48 hours – me or the CEO of Tylenol.”
After thanking everyone who had been in touch with him over the last week, Kimmel added: “Maybe, weirdly, most of all 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 – people I never would have imagined.”
He showed a clip from 2022 in which Mr Trump outlines the importance of free speech, followed by an interview from last week in which the president said Kimmel had “no talent and no ratings”, responding: “Tonight I do.”