{"id":250783,"date":"2025-09-24T05:33:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T05:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/250783\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T05:33:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T05:33:15","slug":"jimmy-kimmel-returns-with-emotional-monologue-defending-free-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/250783\/","title":{"rendered":"Jimmy Kimmel returns with emotional monologue defending free speech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jimmy Kimmel is back<\/a> \u2014 and like his late-night peers<\/a>, he\u2019s not shying away from talking about ABC\u2019s decision to bench him. <\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s show marked Kimmel\u2019s return to his talk series since Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC announced last week that it was suspending the show indefinitely<\/a>. The decision came after Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcasting, owners of ABC affiliates, said they would not air the show because of comments Kimmel made about the suspect in the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Both companies said they would continue to keep \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d off air.<\/a> <\/p>\n

Kimmel was greeted by the studio audience with a long standing ovation and chants of \u201cJimmy.\u201d He cracked a joke to open: \u201cWho had a weirder 48 hours \u2014 me or the CEO of Tylenol?\u201d<\/p>\n

The host said he was moved by the support he had received from friends and fans, but especially from those who disagree with him. He cited comments from Ted Cruz and mentioned the support he received from Ben Shapiro, Candace Owens and Sen. Mitch McConnell. <\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

\u201cOur government cannot be allowed to control what we do and do not say on television, and that we have to stand up to it,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been hearing a lot about what I need to say and do tonight, and the truth is, I don\u2019t think what I have to say is going to make much of a difference. If you like me, you like me; if you don\u2019t, you don\u2019t; I have no illusions about changing anyone\u2019s mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

What was most important to him, though, was imparting that it was \u201cnever my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,\u201d Kimmel said through tears, referring to Kirk. <\/p>\n

\u201cI understand that to some that felt either ill timed or unclear or maybe both, and for those who think I did point a finger, I get why you\u2019re upset,\u201d Kimmel said of his comments about Kirk\u2019s suspected killer. \u201cIf the situation was reversed, there\u2019s a good chance I\u2019d have felt the same way. I have many friends and family members on the other side who I love and remain close to, even though we don\u2019t agree on politics at all. I don\u2019t think the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk represents anyone. This was a sick person who believed violence was a solution and it isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimmel also said his ability to speak freely is \u201csomething I\u2019m embarrassed to say I took for granted until they pulled my friend Stephen [Colbert] off the air and tried to coerce the affiliates who run our show in the cities that you live in to take my show off the air.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not legal,\u201d he continued. \u201cThat\u2019s not American. That is un-American.\u201d<\/p>\n

The host said he knew many people were wondering if there were any conditions to his return, and he said there was one: that he read a statement from Disney. He proceed to read off instructions on how to reactivate Disney+ and Hulu accounts, referring to the many people who canceled their subscriptions in protest of ABC\u2019s move last week.<\/p>\n

Kimmel did not explicitly apologize for his comments, which Sinclair Broadcast Group said was a condition they had before they would air the show again.<\/p>\n

Kimmel also said he \u201cfelt sorry\u201d for President Trump, since he \u201ctried his best to cancel\u201d him. \u201cInstead, he forced millions of people to watch the show,\u201d he continued. \u201cHe might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the monologue, Kimmel said the show reached out to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, who he said had agreed to join the show, cutting to a video feed with Robert De Niro, who seemed to channel his character from \u201cGoodfellas.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t need to know my name, and I am the new chairman of the FCC,\u201d said De Niro to a puzzled Kimmel. The host had seemingly overheard De Niro threatening \u201cThe View\u201d host Whoopi Goldberg, but he insisted he was simply \u201cteaching a lesson about consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems like the FCC is using mob tactics to suppress free speech,\u201d Kimmel said, to which De Niro replied with \u201cWhat the f\u2014 did you just say to me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout that free speech? It ain\u2019t free no more,\u201d he went on. \u201cWe\u2019re charging by the word now.\u201d<\/p>\n

He clarified the price depends on what you\u2019re trying to say: If you\u2019re looking to say \u201csomething nice about the president\u2019s beautiful, thick, yellow hair, how he can do his makeup better than any broad, that\u2019s free.\u201d But if you want to crack a joke about how the president is \u201cso fat he needs two seats on the Epstein jet,\u201d that\u2019ll run you \u201ca couple of fingers, maybe a tooth.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the segment, Kimmel proceeded with business as usual, cracking jokes about Trump\u2019s snafus at the United Nations Tuesday and his comments about how taking Tylenol during pregnancy<\/a> increases the risk of autism in children, of which there is no strong evidence.<\/p>\n

Kimmel did not comment on his suspension until Tuesday\u2019s episode, which will air on the West Coast at 11:35 p.m. PT, but talk show hosts<\/a>, actors, comedians, writers<\/a> and even the former head of Disney<\/a> had condemned ABC\u2019s decision to pause production.<\/p>\n

Hours before he taped Tuesday\u2019s episode, Kimmel posted on Instagram<\/a> for the first time since his suspension, sharing a photo of himself with iconic television creator Norman Lear. Kimmel captioned the photo \u201cMissing this guy today.\u201d The late Lear, whom Kimmel collaborated with on the television specials \u201cLive in Front of a Studio Audience,\u201d was an outspoken advocate for freedom of speech and the 1st Amendment and he founded the organization People for the American Way, which aims to stop censorship as one of its many goals. <\/p>\n

Trump also took to social media before Tuesday\u2019s episode to express his thoughts about Kimmel\u2019s return, writing on Truth Social that he couldn\u2019t believe the show was coming back: \u201cThe White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled [sic]!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would they want someone back who does so poorly, who\u2019s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE,\u201d Trump continued. \u201cHe is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution. <\/p>\n

He went on to write he wanted to \u201ctest ABC out on this.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars,\u201d he wrote, referencing the settlement with ABC after Trump filed a defamation lawsuit<\/a> over inaccurate statements made about him by ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos. \u201cThis one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pressure to suspend Kimmel came from FCC head Carr, who said in a podcast interview last week that ABC had to act on Kimmel\u2019s comments. The Trump appointee said, \u201cWe can do it the easy way or the hard way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hours later, Nexstar, which controls 32 ABC affiliates, agreed to drop <\/a>\u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d indefinitely, and ABC followed with its own announcement that it was pulling Kimmel from the network. Sinclair Broadcasting, a TV station company long sympathetic to conservative causes,<\/a> also shelved the show and went a step further by demanding that Kimmel make a financial contribution to Kirk\u2019s family and his conservative advocacy organization Turning Point USA.<\/p>\n

FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez, one of three commissioners, and the only Democratic member, released a searing statement the next day. <\/p>\n

Gomez said the FCC \u201cdoes not have the authority, the ability, or the constitutional right to police content or punish broadcasters for speech the government dislikes\u201d and called the network\u2019s move a \u201cshameful show of cowardly corporate capitulation by ABC that has put the foundation of the First Amendment in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen corporations surrender in the face of that pressure, they endanger not just themselves, but the right to free expression for everyone in this country,\u201d Gomez continued. \u201cThe duty to defend the First Amendment does not rest with government, but with all of us. Free speech is the foundation of our democracy, and we must push back against any attempt to erode it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Times staff writers Stephen Battaglio and Meg James contributed to this report. <\/p>\n