The emotional Jimmy Kimmel returned to late night stage Tuesday to talk for the first time about the six-day suspension from ABC.
Kimmel has opened the program in response to his suspension, with clips from various news outlets, with one anchor that he regarded to tonight’s show as “one of the most important moments in broadcast history.” The show then cuts in costumes as a tiger and banana, behind the scenes, with hosts and his partner Guillermo Rodriguez, respectively. Kimmel then deadpanned, “Maybe it should change.”
Kimmel was welcomed with enthusiastic applause from his audience as he left for a monologue. He then didn’t miss the walk and said, “I don’t know who was the 48-hour weirdo who was me or Tylenol’s CEO.”
He thanked all the industry allies who spoke for him, including Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Conan O’Brien, James Corden, Jay Leno, Howard Stern, David Letterman and others. However, he also insisted on thanking the voice that supported him from the far right.
“More than anything, I would like to thank those who don’t support my show and what I believe, but support the right to share those beliefs anyway,” he said. “Those I never imagined,
Like Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Candice Owens, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul. Even my old companion, Ted Cruz, said something very beautiful on my behalf, whether he believes it or not. ”
He said, “I don’t agree with many people in most subjects, but it takes courage for them to speak out against this administration, even if they want to throw me out what they say, and they deserve to praise it.”
The host subsequently addressed September 15 comments on the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. His voice broke, tears shedding his eyes, and he declared, “I didn’t intend to lighten the murder of the young man.”
“I don’t think there’s anything interesting,” he insisted. “I post a message on Instagram the day he was killed, send love to his family and seek compassion. And I mean that. I still do. I wasn’t going to blame a particular group for the actions. It was a deeply disturbed individual. I would have felt the same way.
Kimmel emphasized that tonight’s message is not about the importance of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, and not about the vulnerable importance of “we can live in a country where we can do shows like this.” He went on to hit the cancellation of fellow late-night frontman Colbert, making remarks about the importance of free speech.
“[Free speech]is embarrassing to say it’s obvious until they try to pull my friend Stephen (Colbert) out of the air and force the affiliates who run our shows in the city where you live to broadcast my shows,” he said. “It’s not legal. It’s not American. It’s not American. And it’s very dangerous.”
Kimmel then shyly targeted Brendan Kerr and recited the FCC Chair’s quote directly about his comments on Kirk. in the first place.
“10 years ago, this sounded crazy,” cried Kimmel. “FCC Chairman Brendan Kerr told the American company, “You can do this in an easy way, or you can do it in the difficult way.” “These companies can change their behavior and find ways to take action in Kimmel. In addition to directly violating the First Amendment, doing it in public is not a particularly intellectual threat.”
He was also not afraid to chase Donald Trump. “Everyone could replace him, and the man had no talent. Kimmel saw him, he was fired. He had no talent. He had no talent. But he had no talent.
“Well, I’m doing it tonight!” Kimmel said with a smile as his audience erupted with applause. “You almost need to feel sorry for him. He tried his best to cancel me. Instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show.
When ABC pulled him away from the air, he made it clear that he was “not happy” while still thanking the network for allowing him late at night. By choosing to support his show, he admitted that ABC was “unfairly” at risk from the president who “much-clear” who wanted to end “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”.
“Our leaders celebrate the fact that Americans are owed a living because they can’t joke,” Kimmel said. “He somehow managed to squeeze Colbert out of CBS. Then he turned his eyesight on me. And now he’s openly cheering for NBC to fire Jimmy Fallon and Seth Myers, as well as hundreds of Americans who work for their show.
Kimmel shed tears again when she discussed Erica Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, who forgives her husband’s murderer at Sunday’s additional service ceremony. He praised Erica Kirk as “an example we should follow.”
“If you believe in Jesus’ teachings, it was, as I would. That’s it. A selfless act of grace. Forgiveness from the grieving widow,” he erupted. “It touched me deeply, and I hope it touches a lot of things, and if there is something we should take to move forward from this tragedy, I hope it is that, not this.”
“Jimmy Kimmel Live” writer Louis Virtel also spoke about the issue on his podcast, Keep It. When Guest Guy Branham suggested that the FCC’s role in Kimmel’s suspension was “a clear attack by this president and his administration,” Bertil replied, “I felt like they were waiting for the right phrase to strike.” Emphasizing his support for Kimmel’s controversial comments, he said, “This was especially the wording point, so you’re choosing to say that it means something else.”
“I think being kidding is often the fastest way to tell the truth and tell the truth the way people remember,” Virtel said on the podcast. “But when it comes to the word “fascism,” it actually feels like we all.
You have to say “No” bad. ‘There’s nothing to say. There is no irony to draw this out. ”
In his monologue on Monday, September 15th, Kimmel said the “Magagang” is “deeply trying to characterize this child who killed Charlie Kirk as something other than one of them.” Two days later, Donald Trump’s FCC chairman, Carr, threatened regulatory pressure on the stations that aired such comments, and Nexstar and Sinclair, who own about a quarter of ABC’s affiliate channels, vowed to prevent Kimmel’s show. Disney-owned ABC quickly followed suits and turned into a bench for Kimmel “indefinitely”.
The halt led to a quick backlash as protests erupted in New York and Los Angeles, with Democrats (and Republicans) politicians denounced what they deemed as a violation of the initial amendment. 400 celebrities have signed an open letter in protest of Disney’s decision by the ACLU.
On Monday, ABC announced that Kimmel will return on Tuesday. In a statement, the network wrote that Kimmel’s comments were “bad timing and therefore insensitive,” and the ABC decided to pause “Jimmy Kimmel Live” to “avoid further inflammatory conditions in our country’s emotional moments.” The statement said, “We had our last day of thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”
Still, Tuesday’s broadcast has not reached all ABC stations across the country. Despite Disney’s decision to bring “Jimmy Kimmel Live” back into the air, Nexstar and Sinclair insisted they would continue to pre-empt the show for the time being.
Take a look at the entire opening monologue below.
