Jimmy Kimmel returned to ABC on Tuesday night (September 23) with a new episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!
During the 57-year-old late night host’s opening monologue, he thanked those who have supported him over the past week, called out Donald Trump and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for violating his free speech, and even got choked up while talking about Charlie Kirk.
Keep reading to find out more…
“As I was saying before I was interrupted,” he started off his monologue, before saying they were preempting Celebrity Family Feud to air his show, which lead to cheers and a standing ovation from the studio audience.
He then joked that he wasn’t sure who had a weirder past 48 hours, him or the CEO of Tylenol, referring to the Trump administration’s claim that the OTC drug caused autism when taken while pregnant.
Jimmy also thanked his fellow late night hosts, past and present for their support over the past week, including Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brian and David Letterman, as well as late night hosts from other countries.
He even thanked the audience and those who don’t agree with his views or what he’s said but stood up for his right to free speech, like Ben Shapiro, Candace Owens and Ted Cruz, before playing audio from a recent Cruz interview.
“And maybe weirdly, maybe maybe most of all, 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,” Jimmy said. “It takes courage for them to speak out against this administration, and they deserve credit for it. And thanks for telling your followers that our government cannot be allowed to control what we do and do not say on television, and that we have to stand up to it.”
Jimmy then got choked up when addressing the comments that lead to his suspension.
“It was never intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it,” he said. “Nor was it my intention to blame any group for the actions of what it was obviously a deeply disturbed individual,” he said. “That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make. But I understand that to some that felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both.”
Jimmy moved on to call out the FCC Chairman and Donald Trump over attacking his right to free speech.
“That’s not legal. That’s not American. That is un-American and it is so dangerous,” he shared, before quoting Brendan Carr‘s statement about the show, calling it a direct violation of the first amendment.
He joked, “Brendan Carr is the most embarrassing car the republicans have embraced since,” before displaying a photo of the Tesla truck with a US flag wrap.
Jimmy brought up a past Carr tweet about protecting freedom of speech, as well as playing a 2022 video of Trump talking about it.
A more recent video of Trump also played, where it ended with him saying Jimmy “had no ratings,” to which the host replied, “Well, I do tonight!”
“He tried his best to cancel me. Instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show. That backfired bigly. He might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this,” Jimmy joked.
The late night host then read a statement from Disney that he was asked to read on the show, “Reactivate your Disney+ and Hulu accounts. Open the Disney+ app on your smart TV or TV connected device.”
Jimmy praised ABC for allowing him to say what he does and defending his right to be able to do so, and he thanked Disney for welcoming him back on air, but noted it unfortunately puts the company at risk with Trump, who “can’t take a joke.”
He got choked once again when bringing up Erika Kirk forgiving the man who shot her husband on Sunday during the memorial in Glendale, Ariz. “That is an example we should follow. If you follow the teachings of Jesus, like I do, there it is. That’s it. A selfless act of grace, forgiveness from a grieving widow. It touched me deeply and I hope it touches many.”
Following the opening monologue, the show returned from a commercial break to a skit of Jimmy calling up the FCC Chairman, only it wasn’t Brendan Carr, it was Trump‘s “new” chairman, played by Robert De Niro.
Check out the full video right here on Just Jared!
