Jimmy Kimmel thanked President Donald Trump when the comedian won Best Talk Show at the 2026 Critics’ Choice Awards.
Kimmel gave a sharp shout-out during his acceptance speech after Sunday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The show was briefly taken off the air in September due to controversial comments about Charlie Kirk’s death.
“Thank you to all the writers, actors, producers, union members, so many of you in this room, so many of you who have supported us and truly come forward and reminded us that we don’t take free speech for granted in this city or in this country,” he said, referring to the tense times.
“Your actions matter and we appreciate them,” he continued.
He then thanked President Trump directly.
“And most of all, I want to thank President Donald Jennifer Trump. Without him, we would be going home empty-handed tonight,” Kimmel said.
“So thank you, Mr. President, for all the many ridiculous things you do every day,” he added. “They’ve been a hot topic for a few weeks now and I can’t wait to get back on the air tomorrow night and talk about them.”
Backstage after receiving the award, Kimmel reflected on his suspension again.
“It was almost a near-death experience for me. Not literally, of course, but it felt like Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn were watching their own funeral,” Kimmel told reporters.
He continued, “When all this stuff happens and we come here and see people not only reacting positively to it, but in an almost desperate way, we’re like, ‘Oh, when they come after comedians, this is when we draw the line.'”
“I’m really grateful that they gave us the line.”
ABC’s decision to cancel Kimmel’s late-night show came after television conglomerate Nexstar Media threatened to pre-empt the show over Kimmel’s comments about Kirk.
Prior to the show’s cancellation, FCC commissioner Brendan Kerr threatened to launch a formal investigation into Kimmel and his show over the comedian’s comments that Kirk’s alleged killer was a supporter of the pro-Trump MAGA, Make America Great Again political movement.
Kimmel, 58, claimed that the “MAGA gang” was using the conservative commentator’s death as a means to gain political advantage.
He also criticized President Trump, 79, for talking about renovating the White House when asked by reporters to comment on Kirk’s death.
“He’s in the fourth stage of grief, the construction stage,” Kimmel joked. “This is not how an adult grieves when someone they call a friend is killed. This is how a four-year-old child grieves a goldfish.”
ABC lifted the suspension less than a week later, but Kimmel tearfully insisted in his first monologue that he had no intention of “making light of the murders of young people.”
He also praised Erica Kirk’s decision to forgive her husband’s alleged killer, but went on to attack Trump.
“I can only feel sorry for him. He tried his best to cancel me,” he said. “Instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show.”
“It backfired hugely,” he continued. “Now, to distract us, he may need to release Epstein’s files.”
