Jimmy Kimmel made an emotional return to late-night on Tuesday evening, a week after ABC suspended him for making “insensitive” comments about the killing of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, incensing members of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! was taken off air “indefinitely” after the host criticized the right’s response to Kirk’s assassination at Utah Valley University earlier this month, saying conservatives were “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it.”
Since reinstated, Kimmel, close to tears at several points, thanked people who had reached out to him with messages of support – from fellow comics to members of the public and even Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz – and said it had never been his intention to make light of Kirk’s killing, describing his shooter as a “deeply disturbed individual” and “a sick person who believed violence was a solution – and it isn’t, ever.”
However, members of the president’s MAGA constituency were equally angered by Kimmel’s return and apparently unswayed by the host’s gracious efforts to make amends.
Andrew Kolvet, Kirk’s former executive producer and a Turning Point spokesperson, wrote on X: “Disney and ABC caving and allowing Kimmel back on the air is not surprising, but it’s their mistake to make. Nextstar and Sinclair do not have to make the same choice.” Kolvet appeared to be attempting to exert pressure on the two right-leaning networks to continue to refuse to air Kimmel’s show on syndication.
An account on the same platform called MAGA Voice added: “Disney ABC let the WOKE Mob get to them and decided to bring back Jimmy Kimmel. TIME TO BOYCOTT DISNEY.”
Former Trump critic turned MAGA-loyalist Megyn Kelly observed: “Must be nice to be a leftist. ‘Cancellation’ lasts five nights and you’re right back under klieg lights. On the right, you’re underground.”
Cryptocurrency influencer Tiffany Fong posted a profoundly unappetizing photo of a chili dog and claimed she could attract more responses to her tweet than Kimmel’s average viewership, which she put at 126,000, claiming victory in a follow-up despite the audience figures for Tuesday’s show not having been published yet. They are likely to be far in excess of his usual numbers due to the heightened public interest.
Conservative comedian Rob Schneider, the star of Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999) and The Hot Chick (2002), meanwhile, put up an open letter to Kimmel accusing him of misrepresenting his original comments about Kirk in his opening monologue and being personally responsible for the state of political polarization in the U.S.
More successful comic actor and director Ben Stiller, by contrast, paid tribute to Kimmel for his “brilliant monologue,” a response typical of the contrasting liberal reaction to last night’s broadcast.
The comedian said in the opening of his show that he had been very moved by widow Erika Kirk saying she forgave her husband’s attacker at Sunday’s memorial gathering in Arizona, calling it “a very beautiful moment,” “a selfless act of grace,” and an example of Christian compassion for others to follow.
Kimmel also expressed gratitude to ABC and its parent company Disney for welcoming him back, but was less warm towards Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr and Trump, joking that the president’s attempt to cancel him had “backfired bigly” and commenting: “He might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this now.”
Trump made clear his displeasure before Kimmel’s appearance, complaining on Truth Social: “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. ABC told the White House that his Show was cancelled! Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his ‘talent’ was never there.
“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. 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. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.”
