Kimmel Sobs Upon Returning, Claiming He Didn’t Mean to Make Fun of Charlie Kirk’s Death

Jimmy Kimmel fought back tears after being suspended and insisted that he had no intention of making light of Charlie Kirk’s murder.

Jimmy Kimmel, who was on the verge of tears when he returned to late-night television Tuesday night after almost a week-long hiatus, assured viewers that he never meant to make light of the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

“I want to make something clear because it’s important to me as a human, but I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind,” Kimmel stated. “You realize that I never meant to laugh at a young man’s murder. There is nothing amusing about that, in my opinion.

He made it clear that he wasn’t holding any particular organization accountable for the crime. He acknowledged that his comments “felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both,” explaining that it was actually the antithesis of the argument he was attempting to make.

Kimmel did not issue an apology in spite of the criticism. Rather, he attacked Sinclair and Nexstar station groups, which accounted for around 25% of ABC affiliates, for not airing his program.
“That’s illegal,” he declared. That isn’t patriotic. It’s not American.

Kimmel also criticized ABC for suspending him, but he gave his bosses credit for bringing him back in the end. “Unfairly, this puts them in danger,” he said.

Earlier, Kimmel was accused of attempting to “directly mislead the American public” by Trump-appointed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who warned ABC to “take action, frankly, on Kimmel” or face federal repercussions. Bipartisan outrage followed that comment, with Sen. Ted Cruz accusing Carr of acting “like a mafioso.”

Kimmel named Cruz and fans who acknowledged they weren’t fans of his comedy, and he thanked his fellow comedians, coworkers, and even political enemies who stood up for his freedom to speak. When he was complimenting Kirk’s widow, Erika, he started crying once more.

Kimmel remarked, “That is an example we should follow.” “If you share my belief in Jesus’ teachings, then there it was, Forgiveness from a bereaved widow is an unselfish gesture of grace. It had a profound effect on me. And I hope a lot of people are impacted.

Donald Trump, who praised his suspension and blasted his numbers, was made fun of by the host. To cheers, Kimmel joked, “He did everything he could to cancel me, but instead he made millions of people watch this show.”

Hollywood was outraged by Kimmel’s suspension, and hundreds of performers signed a petition denouncing ABC’s action as “a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.” “I absolutely don’t think that the government should ever be involved in dictating what a comedian can or can’t say,” said podcaster Joe Rogan.

The uproar comes as the late-night scene is changing, with viewers increasingly turning to online highlights and shows losing viewers. Kimmel is still bound by his ABC contract through May, even though CBS terminated Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” earlier this year.

Actor Glen Powell and singer Sarah McLachlan, who had objected to his suspension by skipping another event, made cameos on Kimmel’s comeback show. After a week that rekindled discussions about media freedom, censorship, and political pressure, he exited the stage to cries of “Jimmy, Jimmy.”