Emotional Jimmy Kimmel says in late-night return he never intended to
make light of Kirk's killing
[September 24, 2025]
By DAVID BAUDER
NEW YORK (AP) — Jimmy Kimmel returned to late-night television Tuesday
after a nearly weeklong suspension and, in an emotional monologue where
he appeared close to tears, said that he wasn't trying to joke about the
killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make
something clear, because it’s important to me as a human and that is,
you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the
murder of a young man," Kimmel said. "I don’t think there’s anything
funny about it.”
He added that he wasn't trying to blame any specific group "for the
actions of what ... was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That
was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make.” He said he
understood his remarks last week to some “felt either ill-timed or
unclear or maybe both.”
But he made no apologies. And he criticized the ABC affiliates who took
his show off the air. Two stations groups that represent about a quarter
of ABC stations, Sinclair and Nexstar, ordered their outlets not to show
Kimmel on Tuesday.
“That's not legal,” Kimmel said. “That's not American. It's
un-American.”
Kimmel praises supporters and Kirk's widow
The incident triggered a national discussion about freedom of speech and
President Donald Trump’s ability to police the words of journalists,
commentators and even comics. ABC suspended Kimmel's show last Wednesday
following criticism of his remarks about the aftermath of Kirk's
killing. But the network brought him back following a backlash against
parent company Disney.
Kimmel thanked many supporters, including fellow late-night hosts past
and present and even a former boss at a radio station in Seattle who
checked in with him last week. He also singled out people he knows
aren't fans of his comedy but stood up for his right to speak, including
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
"It takes courage for them to speak out against this administration," he
said. "They did and they deserve credit for it.”
Kimmel nearly broke down again in praising Kirk's widow, Erika, who
publicly forgave her husband's killer.
“That is an example we should follow,” he said. “If you believe in the
teachings of Jesus as I do, there it was ... A selfless act of grace,
forgiveness from a grieving widow. It touched me deeply. 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. And not this.”
Kimmel admitted that he was mad when ABC suspended him, but praised his
bosses for putting him back on the air. “Unjustly, this puts them at
risk.”
He mocked Trump for criticizing him for bad ratings. “He tried his best
to cancel me and instead he forced millions of people to watch this
show,” Kimmel said.
The decisions by Sinclair and Nexstar left ABC stations in Washington,
D.C.; St. Louis; Nashville, Tennessee, and Richmond, Virginia among the
cities airing something else. WJLA-TV, the Sinclair-owned station in
Washington, instead aired a newscast and an episode of the chain's show,
“The National Desk.”
Kimmel's suspension came after an angry reaction to comments he made in
monologues early last week. A relentless Trump critic in his comedy,
Kimmel suggested that many Trump supporters were trying to capitalize on
Kirk’s death and were “desperately trying to characterize this kid who
murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”
FCC chair accuses Kimmel of misleading the public
Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr
last week said it appeared that Kimmel was trying to “directly mislead
the American public” with his remarks about Tyler Robinson, the
22-year-old Utah man charged with Kirk's killing, and his motives. Those
motives remain unclear. Authorities say Robinson grew up in a
conservative family, but his mother told investigators his son had
turned left politically in the last year.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said before ABC
announced the suspension. “These companies can find ways to change
conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there is going to be
additional work for the FCC ahead.”
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This image released by Disney shows host Jimmy Kimmel being embraced
by Guillermo Rodriguez on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in Los Angeles on
Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Randy Holmes/Disney via AP)
 Those remarks were key to the
backlash, with Cruz saying that Carr acted like “a mafioso.”
Hundreds of entertainment luminaries, including Tom Hanks, Barbra
Streisand and Jennifer Aniston, signed a letter circulated by the
American Civil Liberties Union that called ABC's move “a dark moment
for freedom of speech in our nation.”
Podcaster Joe Rogan weighed in Tuesday on Kimmel's side. “I
definitely don't think that the government should be involved — ever
— in dictating what a comedian can or can't say in a monologue,”
Rogan said. “You are crazy for supporting this because this will be
used on you.”
Some consumers punished ABC parent Disney by canceling subscriptions
to its streaming services.
Trump had hailed Kimmel's suspension and criticized his return,
writing on his Truth Social platform: “I can’t believe ABC Fake News
gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back ... Why would they want someone back
who does so poorly, who's not funny, and who puts the Network in
jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE."
Actor Robert De Niro appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Tuesday,
impersonating Carr being interviewed by Kimmel. De Niro, as Carr,
said the FCC had a new motto, “sticks and stones can break your
bones.”
Isn't there more to the saying, Kimmel asked, that words can never
hurt you?
“They can hurt you now,” De Niro responded, saying you have to make
sure to say the right ones.
Kimmel takes stage to a long standing ovation, soaks in the
cheers
Kimmel took the stage to a long standing ovation and chants of
“Jimmy, Jimmy.” One audience member, Walter Bates, said after the
taping that Kimmel's discussion of Kirk's widow “was a very moving
moment. I got very emotional and so did my wife.”
Trump's administration has used threats, lawsuits and federal
government pressure to try to exert more control over the media
industry. Trump sued ABC and CBS over news coverage, which the
companies settled. Trump has also filed defamation lawsuits against
The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and successfully
urged Congress to strip federal funding from NPR and PBS.
After pulling out of her planned performance at the premiere of
Hulu's Lilith Fair documentary in protest over Kimmel's suspension,
singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan appeared on Kimmel's show as the
musical guest. McLachlan had been booked on the show prior to the
preemption, a representative told The Associated Press.
The other guest was actor Glen Powell.
The suspension happened at a time when the late-night landscape is
shifting. Shows are losing viewers, in part because many watch
highlights the next day online. CBS announced the cancellation of
“Late Show” host Stephen Colbert’s show over the summer. Kimmel's
contract with ABC reportedly lasts through May.
Colbert, in his own monologue Monday shortly after ABC announced
Kimmel would return, grabbed his recently won Emmy Award for
outstanding talk series, saying, “Once more, I am the only martyr on
late night!”
___
Associated Press journalists Maria Sherman and Hillel Italie in New
York, Alicia Rancilio in Detroit and Liam McEwan in Los Angeles
contributed to this report.
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