After almost one week on a forced hiatus, Jimmy Kimmel returned to ABC to host “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Tuesday, September 23. Many celebs came to Kimmel’s defense after the news broke, and fans showed their support online. Luckily, the support worked, and Kimmel has returned to the airwaves.
What Jimmy Kimmel Said on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’
The night started out with a chant from the audience, clearly very excited for Kimmel’s return. Then, he launched immediately into a joke about “preempting” the “regularly scheduled” airing of Family Feud, using Nexstar and Sinclair’s own language against them.
Kimmel shouted out his fellow late-night hosts for standing by him: Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, and more. He also, importantly, thanked the fans for using their voices, as Kimmel said, “so I can use mine.”
He also acknowledged people like Ted Cruz, who may not agree with the things Kimmel says on his show but stood by his first amendment right to say it. Kimmel admitted he previously took his right to speak freely on his show for granted, but things changed when Stephen Colbert’s show got canceled.
Regarding the statement that got Kimmel preempted in the first place, he teared up when he said, “It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.” He understood his words were misconstrued, but his intention was not to hurt anyone, although he recognized some people may have found his joke to be “ill-timed.”
Later in the monologue, Kimmel got a standing ovation after playing a clip of President Donald Trump claiming Kimmel had no viewership. Kimmel’s response? “I do tonight.”
Kimmel told his audience that in order to get his show back, he needed to read a statement. He then pulled out a piece of paper and read, “To reactivate your Disney+ or Hulu account, open the Disney app on your smart TV.” This was a reference to a fan boycott of Disney, the parent company of ABC, in response to Kimmel’s forced hiatus.
Finally, Kimmel praised Charlie Kirk’s wife for forgiving her husband’s killer, again tearing up. “That is an example we should follow.”
Throughout his monologue, Kimmel urged the audience to fight for their first amendment rights, specifically the freedom of speech and of the press.
Why ABC Suspended Jimmy Kimmel
On September 15, Kimmel told a joke about the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s recent passing. In his monologue, he mentioned the “MAGA gang,” a reference to fans of President Donald Trump. Specifically, he said the following:
“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.”
Two ABC affiliates, Sinclair and Nexstar, decided to pause airing “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” indefinitely due to the statement. Andrew Alford, President of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, said: “Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located.”
ABC followed suit, deciding not to air “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” at all. However, on Monday, ABC announced Kimmel would return to the airwaves. Unfortunately for some viewers, Sinclair and Nexstar will continue to preempt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” That means depending on where you live in the United States, you may or may not be able to watch Kimmel for the time being.
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