{"id":250794,"date":"2025-09-24T05:40:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T05:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/250794\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T05:40:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T05:40:12","slug":"jimmy-kimmel-clarifies-comment-on-charlie-kirks-death-nbc-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/250794\/","title":{"rendered":"Jimmy Kimmel clarifies comment on Charlie Kirk\u2019s death \u2013 NBC New York"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jimmy Kimmel returned to late-night television Tuesday<\/a> after a nearly weeklong suspension and nearly broke down in tears, saying he wasn’t trying joke about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI have no illusions about changing anyone\u2019s mind, but I do want to make something clear, because it\u2019s 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, his voice breaking. “I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything funny about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimmel added: \u201cNor was it my intention 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.\u201d He said he understood his remarks last week<\/a> to some \u201cfelt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimmel criticized the ABC affiliates who took his show off the air.<\/a> \u201cThat\u2019s not legal. That\u2019s not American. It\u2019s un-American.\u201d Two stations groups that represent about a quarter of ABC affiliates, Sinclair and Nexstar, had said they would not show Kimmel’s program on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

He thanked the people who supported him, and even people who don’t like him who stood up for his right to speak, including Texas<\/a> Sen. Ted Cruz. \u201cIt takes courage for them to speak out against this administration,” he said. “They did and they deserve credit for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimmel nearly broke down again in praising Kirk’s widow, who publicly forgave her husband’s killer.<\/a> If nothing else comes from the past few weeks, he said \u201cI hope it can be that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tErika Kirk, wife of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, spoke at a memorial for her husband and said Charlie\u2019s mission was to help young men like his killer.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

ABC, which suspended Kimmel\u2019s show last Wednesday following criticism of his comments about the Kirk’s assassination, announced Monday that \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d would return after the network had \u201cthoughtful conversations\u201d with the host.<\/p>\n

Kimmel admitted that he was mad when ABC suspended him, but praised his bosses for putting him back on the air. \u201cUnjustly, this puts them at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

He mocked Trump<\/a> for criticizing him for bad ratings. \u201cHe tried his best to cancel me and instead he forced millions of people to watch this show,\u201d Kimmel said.<\/p>\n

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, \u201cThe National Desk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimmel, who has been publicly silent since his suspension, posted Tuesday on his Instagram account a picture of himself with the late television producer and free speech advocate Norman Lear. \u201cMissing this guy today,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

ABC suspended Kimmel \u201cindefinitely\u201d after comments he made in a monologue last week. Kimmel, who has been a relentless Trump critic in his comedy, suggested that many Trump supporters were trying to capitalize on Kirk\u2019s death and were \u201cdesperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimmel, who has been a relentless Trump critic in his comedy, suggested that many Trump supporters were trying to capitalize on Kirk\u2019s death and were \u201cdesperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

FCC chair accuses host of misleading the public<\/p>\n

Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr<\/a> last week said it appeared that Kimmel was trying to \u201cdirectly mislead the American public\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can do this the easy way or the hard way,\u201d Carr said before ABC announced the suspension. \u201cThese 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those remarks set a backlash in motion, with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz saying that Carr acted like \u201ca mafioso.\u201d 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 \u201ca dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCongress members responded sharply after ABC suspended \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d following host Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s comments on Charlie Kirk\u2019s assassination.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Podcaster Joe Rogan weighed in Tuesday on Kimmel’s side. \u201cI definitely don’t think that the government should be involved \u2014 ever \u2014 in dictating what a comedian can or can’t say in a monologue,\u201d Rogan said. \u201cYou are crazy for supporting this because this will be used on you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some consumers punished ABC parent Disney by canceling subscriptions to its streaming services.<\/p>\n

Trump had hailed Kimmel’s suspension and criticized his return, writing on his Truth Social platform: \u201cI can\u2019t 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.”<\/p>\n

Actor Robert De Niro appeared on \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d on Tuesday, impersonating Carr being interviewed by Kimmel. De Niro, as Carr, said the FCC had a new motto, \u201csticks and stones can break your bones.\u201d<\/p>\n

Isn’t there more to the saying, Kimmel asked, that words can never hurt you?<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can hurt you now,\u201d De Niro responded, saying you have to make sure to say the right ones.<\/p>\n

Kimmel took the stage to a long standing ovation and chants of \u201cJimmy, Jimmy.\u201d One audience member, Walter Bates, said after the taping that Kimmel’s discussion of Kirk’s wife \u201cwas a very moving moment. I got very emotional and so did my wife.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The other guest was actor Glen Powell.<\/p>\n

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 Colbert\u2019s show over the summer. Kimmel’s contract with ABC reportedly lasts through May.<\/p>\n

CBS’ \u201cLate Show\u201d host Stephen Colbert, in his own opening monologue Monday, grabbed his recently won Emmy Award for outstanding talk series, saying, \u201cOnce more, I am the only martyr on late night!\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jimmy Kimmel returned to late-night television Tuesday after a nearly weeklong suspension and nearly broke down in tears,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":250795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,399,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-250794","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-newyork","12":"tag-newyorkcity","13":"tag-ny","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-television","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115257673557500369","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}