An emotional Kimmel returns to ABC and assails Trump’s ‘un-American’ attacks on free speech

By Brian Stelter, Dan Heching, Andrew Kirell, CNN

(CNN) — Jimmy Kimmel returned to his late-night stage Tuesday night and urged viewers to stand up to President Trump’s threats. Shortly before Kimmel’s show aired, the president sent out a new missive against Kimmel’s network, ABC.

In an eloquent and emotional monologue, Kimmel assailed “anti-American” efforts to curtail free speech in the United States and signaled that he won’t temper his criticism of the president after a nearly week-long suspension of his show amid pressure from the Trump administration.

“This show is not important,” Kimmel told viewers. “What’s important is that we live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”

Kimmel spoke about spending time with comedians from countries where people “get thrown in prison for making fun of those in power, and worse.”

“They know how lucky we are here,” Kimmel said. “Our freedom to speak is what they admire most about this country, and that’s something I’m embarrassed to say I took for granted until they pulled my friend Stephen off the air,” a reference to CBS host Stephen Colbert, “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.”

Kimmel predicted that ABC and its parent company Disney would come under further scrutiny from the Trump administration for reinstating his show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” days after Trump wrongly said Kimmel had been “fired.”

Noting that Trump has openly rooted for Kimmel’s cancellation — and thereby the loss of work for his staffers — the comedian said, “Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke.”

Then Kimmel noted that Trump has also called for NBC to fire “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon. “I hope that if that happens, or if there’s even any hint of that happening, you will be ten times as loud as you were this week,” Kimmel said. “We have to speak out against this,” he added over the approving cheers of his studio audience.

Attendees told CNN that Kimmel received a several-minute-long standing ovation when he walked on stage for Tuesday evening’s taping.

Clearly fighting through tears, Kimmel thanked those who’d supported him during his suspension, including a lengthy roster of fellow comedians. “Maybe most of all,” he said, “I want to thank the people who don’t support my show and what I believe, but support my right to share those beliefs anyway.”

He named conservative media and political figures like Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Candace Owens, Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, and “even my old pal Ted Cruz,” alluding to Kimmel’s ruthless mockery of Sen. Cruz in the past.

The Emmy-winning host grew visibly emotional as he addressed his Sept. 15 remarks about Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer that led ABC to halt production of his show.

“It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” Kimmel said. “Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual.”

Kimmel also praised Kirk’s widow, Erika, for speaking at Sunday’s memorial service about forgiving her husband’s assassin.

“It touched me deeply,” he said, “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.”

‘Not happy’ with his suspension

There was a conservative outcry last week after Kimmel asserted that the “MAGA gang” was “desperately trying” to characterize the suspect “as anything other than one of them.” Kimmel also claimed that Trump loyalists were “doing everything they can to score political points” from the assassination.

After Kimmel’s comments were publicized by right-wing websites and TV shows, the Trump-aligned FCC chairman Carr called it “the sickest conduct possible” and suggested that the FCC could move to revoke ABC affiliate licenses.

Carr has since downplayed his role in the Kimmel drama, casting it as a dispute between local station owners and the national network. But some of those local owners — like Nexstar, which is trying to merge with another big station group, Tegna — have pending business before the FCC, making them uniquely vulnerable to Carr’s public pressure.

Both Nexstar and Sinclair told ABC that they were going to preempt Kimmel’s show last Wednesday, which contributed to the network’s decision to yank the late-night show nationwide. Hollywood leaders were astonished; free speech groups were appalled; and the episode triggered a multi-day news cycle about free speech and corporate capitulation to political pressure.

Widespread criticism of the Kimmel suspension even led people to cancel their Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions, although the bottom-line impact of the grassroots boycott is unclear. Kimmel joked Tuesday night that Disney wanted him to read aloud some instructions for reinstating Disney+ subscriptions.

With the show on pause last week, Disney CEO Bob Iger and his leadership team sought to lower the proverbial temperature and get Kimmel back on the air.

Following discussions with Kimmel and his attorneys, Disney announced that the show would resume production on Tuesday.

The company gently chastised Kimmel in a statement, calling the aftermath of the Kirk killing an “emotional moment for our country” and saying “we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.”

Kimmel said on the air Tuesday night that he “was not happy” with the suspension. But mostly, he expressed gratitude to Disney for “allowing me to use their platform” night after night.

He also poked fun at the fact that Tuesday’s show was preempted in dozens of markets across the US, including major cities like Washington, DC, Seattle and Nashville. That’s because Sinclair and Nexstar are continuing to protest Kimmel.

And, as usual, Kimmel made some jokes at Trump’s expense. He shared a clip of Trump on Air Force One last week, attacking Kimmel for having “no ratings.”

Kimmel then retorted on stage: “Well, I do tonight.”

Trump goes after ABC

About an hour before the broadcast, Trump weighed in on ABC’s restoration of the show for the first time, commenting on Truth Social that “the White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled!”

Trump once again used his political platform to threaten ABC, saying of Kimmel, “He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution. I think we’re going to test ABC out on this.”

“Let’s see how we do,” Trump continued. “Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 million dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative.”

Disney agreed to pay Trump about $16 million last December to settle a defamation lawsuit that he had lodged against ABC.

Stephanie Elam and Elizabeth Wagmeister contributed reporting.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.