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Eight days after he was unceremoniously yanked<\/a> off the air, Jimmy Kimmel<\/strong> returned to ABC Tuesday night with a monologue that got right to the point. \u201cI\u2019m happy to be here tonight with all of you,\u201d Kimmel began. \u201cI\u2019m not sure who had a weirder 48 hours\u2014me or the CEO of Tylenol.\u201d<\/p>\n Kimmel then thanked everyone who reached out to him in the week he was off the air, including fellow late night hosts Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, John Oliver, Conan O\u2019Brien,<\/strong> and former ABC host James Corden.<\/strong> He also made a point of thanking \u201cthe people who don’t support my show and what I believe, but support my right to share those beliefs anyway\u201d\u2014folks like Ben Shapiro<\/strong>, Clay Travis<\/strong>, Candace Owens<\/strong>, Mitch McConnell<\/strong>, Rand Paul, and even Kimmel\u2019s longtime antagonist Ted Cruz<\/strong>, all of whom publicly supported Kimmel\u2019s right to free speech following his suspension.<\/p>\n Last week, ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live<\/em> after comments<\/a> Kimmel made about the MAGA movement\u2019s response to the murder of Charlie Kirk raised the ire of the Trump administration. The decision came after FCC Chair Brendan Carr<\/strong> complained about Kimmel on a right-wing podcast and threatened to investigate ABC if it did not take action against the comedian. Following Carr\u2019s comments, affiliates owned by the conglomerates Nexstar and Sinclair announced they would preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live<\/em>\u2014and in turn, ABC announced that the show had been pulled from the air \u201cindefinitely.\u201d<\/p>\n Though Kimmel directly addressed Carr\u2019s criticism\u2014and poked fun at the federal employee\u2019s total about-face regarding the importance of political satire<\/a>\u2014he also sounded a note of contrition about the comments that had led to his suspension in the first place. \u201cIt was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,\u201d Kimmel said, his voice breaking. \u201cI don’t think the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk represents anyone. This was a sick person who believed violence was a solution, and it isn’t, ever.\u201d<\/p>\n At the end of his monologue, Kimmel also praised Erika Kirk<\/strong> for the comments she made at her husband\u2019s livestreamed memorial on Sunday night. \u201cI don\u2019t know if you saw this\u2014Erika Kirk forgave the man who shot her husband,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is an example we should follow. If you believe in the teachings of Jesus, as I do, there it was. That\u2019s it. A selfless act of grace, forgiveness from a grieving widow. It touched me deeply.\u201d<\/p>\n On Monday, Disney announced<\/a> that Kimmel\u2019s show\u2014which has aired on ABC since January 2003\u2014would return to the air. In a statement, the nation\u2019s largest media company said that it had suspended the show \u201cto avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country,\u201d adding that it \u201cspent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy.\u201d Though Disney relented, viewers across the country who access ABC through affiliates owned by Many viewers access ABC through affiliate networks, and two of the largest affiliate operators, Sinclair and Nexstar, said they would preempt the show<\/a> after Disney announced his return.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n