YouTube: Jimmy Kimmel Live!Jimmy Kimmel returned to the air last night (September 23) for the first time since his suspension, where he made an emotional monologue addressing the comments about the death of Charlie Kirk.
Last week, Kimmel said on his show that the “MAGA gang” was “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.”
Critics, including FCC chairman Brendan Carr, seized on that comment, accusing Kimmel of falsely linking Kirk’s killer to Trump supporters. Yet it was unclear whether the host was alluding to the larger political shift, with much of the original segment criticizing Trump’s response to the murder.
Nonetheless, when Carr threatened ABC with immediate action from the FCC, the Disney-owned network pulled Kimmel off the air “indefinitely”, sparking a heated debate about freedom of speech and widespread calls to boycott the media giant.
Jimmy Kimmel addresses Charlie Kirk in new monologue
After negotiations with Disney, Jimmy Kimmel Live! returned to ABC last night, where the host made a lengthy monologue addressing the events of the past week – including his comments and thoughts on Kirk’s death.
Clarifying what he truly believes about Kirk’s murderer, he said, “I have many friends and family members on the other side [of politics] who I love and remain close to even though we don’t agree on politics at all.
“I don’t think the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk represents anyone. This was a sick person who believed violence was a solution and it isn’t it ever. And also, selfishly, I am a person who gets a lot of threats.
“I get many ugly and scary threats against my life, my wife, my kids, my co-workers because of what I choose to say. And I know those threats don’t come from the kind of people on the right who I know and love.”
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Later on in the monologue, Kimmel grew emotional as he spoke about Kirk’s widow Erika Kirk, who said at her late husband’s memorial service on Sunday (September 21) that she forgives alleged killer Tyler Robinson.
Creative CommonsThe topic of conversation came up as the host expressed support for unity. “I never imagined I would be in a situation like this. I barely paid attention in school,” he said.
“But one thing I did learn from Lenny Bruce and George Carlin and Howard Stern is that a government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn’t like is anti-American. And I am so glad we have some solidarity on that from the right and left and from those in the middle like Joe Rogan.
“Maybe the silver lining from this is we found one thing we can agree on and maybe we’ll even find another one… We do agree on a lot of things. We agree on keeping our children safe from guns, on reproductive rights for women, social security, affordable health care, pediatric cancer research…
“Let’s stop letting these politicians tell us what they want and tell them what we want. There was a moment over the weekend, a very beautiful moment. I don’t know if you saw this on Sunday – Erica Kirk forgave the man who shot her husband.”
“That is an example we should follow… It touched me deeply 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 and not this.”
Even though Jimmy Kimmel Live! returned to ABC and is available for streaming on Hulu, the 70 ABC affiliate stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar Media Group did not air the show.
ABC only took action after Sinclair and Nexstar announced they were preempting Kimmel’s series following Carr’s comments. Amid the backlash to this, it came to light that Nexstar is seeking approval from the FCC for a $6.2 billion acquisition of the media company Tegna.
Similarly, CBS announced earlier this year that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert would end after its latest run.
Although the network said the decision was financial, some have pointed to Colbert’s criticism of Trump and the fact that Paramount (CBS’ parent company) and Skydance’s merger also had to be approved by the FCC.
Kimmel had much to say about this during last night’s episode, admitting that he’s “embarrassed to say” he took free speech in the US “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.
“That’s not legal. That’s not American. That is un-American, and it is so dangerous.” There was also plenty of criticism aimed at the POTUS and Carr, with one skit involving Robert De Niro.
Is Donald Trump suing ABC?
Creative CommonsDespite Kimmel’s calls for solidarity, Trump didn’t take the news of his return well. On Truth Social, he slammed the move and hinted that a lawsuit might be on the cards, but nothing has been formalized.
“I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled,” he wrote.
“Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his ‘talent’ was never there. Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE.”
“I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 million dollars,” he added. “This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers.”
The $16 million appears to be referring to the amount Trump was awarded in a lawsuit against Paramount over a 60 Minutes interview broadcast on CBS with former Vice President Kamala Harris (which even got its own parody in South Park Season 27).
Whether such a payout could realistically happen again is up for debate; networks typically fight defamation or contract cases, and any new lawsuit would face a lot of criticism amid the free speech fight.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! ratings and online response
YouTube: Jimmy Kimmel Live!The ratings for last night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! are yet to be revealed, but you can bet it’s in the millions.
For context, according to Nielsen, the show averaged 1.77 million total viewers per episode during the second quarter of 2025. This is down significantly from 2015, when he was reportedly averaging 2.4 million viewers.
However, that’s not necessarily bad. Late-night viewership has declined across the board as more people turn to streaming and social media, so Kimmel’s current numbers are in line with broader industry trends.
Kimmel continues to perform strongly in key demographics, and ABC has emphasized his online reach as much as his linear audience. Given the widespread discussion that his suspension kickstarted, there’s no doubt the figures were higher than usual last night.
But it appears the online response has been even bigger. The monologue from the episode has already been viewed more than 5.6 million times since being uploaded to YouTube six hours ago, a figure that continues to climb.
The show has received praise for giving viewers access, with one writing, “Thank you for posting this so soon, for those of us in ‘blackout’ markets.”
Another wrote, “I never thought I’d be unable to watch a TV show in this country, but tonight my local ABC station in East Tennessee, owned by Nexstar, is not showing Jimmy Kimmel Live. It’s blatant censorship. And outrageous. Good to have you back, Jimmy.”
“Watching from New Orleans! They didn’t air the show here,” added a third. “Myself and many others called the station and filed formal complaints.”
In the meantime, read about if Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? has been canceled by ABC and if Disney is losing money over the controversy.