Jimmy Kimmel became emotional as he marked his return to late-night television after being paused over comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
In his opening monologue on Tuesday’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, the comedian worked on his previous remarks about right-wing political activists.
“I have no illusions about changing someone’s mind, but I want to be clear about something because as a human being, I understand that it is important to me, meaning you are not going to lighten the murder of a young man,” the 57-year-old said as his voice broke. “I don’t think there’s anything interesting about that.
“I posted a message on Instagram the day he was killed, sent love to his family and asked for compassion. I mean that and I still do,” he continued, referring to a social media post on September 10th.
“It wasn’t my intention to blame a particular group for the actions of what was clearly a deeply disturbed individual, and that was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make.
“But for those who don’t understand it or feel unclear, or both, and for those who think I pointed my finger… I see why you were upset.
His return came the day after ABC confirmed “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” It will air again after being suddenly pulled on September 17th.
“Last Wednesday we decided to suspend production at the show, avoiding further inflammatory tension in our country’s emotional moments. That’s a decision we made as some of the comments felt worse and therefore insensitive.”
“We spent our last day in thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”
However, two ABC affiliate stations, Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group, have refused to broadcast Kimmel’s show.
On September 17th, Kimmel was pulled out of the air “indefinitely” after comments about Kirk’s death on the Utah campus a week ago.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the Magga gang trying to characterise this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as something other than one of them,” he said in a September 15 monologue.
His comments sparked a fuss within Nextsar. He contacts ABC to preempt the show, claiming that he “strongly opposes Kimmel’s recent comments on the murder of Charlie Kirk, and replaces them with other programming in the markets he belongs to ABC.”
FCC Commissioner Brendan Kerr also indicated that he is considering possible investigations into Kimmel’s on-air comments. This appears to have hinted at the beginning that Tyler Robinson, 22-year-old Utah, a suspect in Kirk’s murder, is a supporter of Trump’s Magazine political ideology.
According to TMZ, “When I see what Jimmy Kimmel has happened, it seems to be part of the most sick behaviour possible,” Carr appeared on Wednesday’s “The Benny Show” podcast.
“There’s a measure here at the FCC, so there are some ways to be a little careful about it, as they will ultimately be called some judges of these claims. But I don’t think this is an isolated case.”
Carr said, “They have a license granted by us at the FCC, so they have an obligation to operate in the public interest.”
To the True Society on the same day, President Trump wrote, “American Great News: Challenged Jimmy Kimmelshaw cancelled” to celebrate the news.
“Congratulations to ABC for doing what they ultimately had to do. Kimmel has zero talent and has a worse rating than Colbert if possible.
Kimmel’s representative did not respond to a request for comment on Page 6, but the show’s producer told the Daily Mail that the talk show host was “absolutely fiding.”
“This is clearly overreached by the government,” they added. “If the government can rely on businesses to stop content they don’t like, then there’s no such thing as freedom of speech in America.”
Outlet sources added that Kimmel is “offended” and “actively looking for a way out of his contract.” Another said he had never seen the comedian “This Anger.”
Several A-list celebrities, including Ben Affleck and Jennifer Aniston, gathered around Kimmel with signed letters calling his suspension “a dark moment for free speech.”
Meanwhile, Sinclair, media company for ABC’s biggest affiliate group, has issued a list of requests for Kimmel to return to his post on a late-night program.
