Jimmy Kimmel returns to late night: 'It's been overwhelming"

jemmy Kimmel returned to the beam on  tues, addressing for the number one clip a controversy that sidelined his late-night show and the intense debate around free speech in the United States.

Kimmel, wearing a blue tie with red stripes, opening his monologue with a joke characteristic of his show — "As I was saying, before I was interrupted" — and commented on the days that have passed since he was suspended from his position.

"I'm not sure who had a weirder 48 hours: me or the CEO of Tylenol," he joked, referring to an announcement Trump made about the painkiller on Monday. "It's been overwhelming. I've heard from a lot of people over the last six days."

Kimmel went on to thank the former colleagues, fellow late-night hosts, celebrity names and "everyone" else who contacted him with messages over support. He was emotional thanking the audience for the same.

"I also want to thank all of you," he said. "Who supported our show, cared enough to do something about it, to make your voices heard so mine could be heard. I'll never forget it."

Disney and ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! last week after the host commented on the suspect accused of shooting right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10. In a monologue days after the killing, Kimmel said "the MAGA gang" had been "desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it."

Prosecutors have since said the suspect, Tyler Robinson, took issue with what texts described as Kirk's "hatred," without specifying which views he criticized. Robinson's mother told investigators her son had shifted left politically before Kirk's death, according to court documents.

After Kimmel's monologue aired, the chair of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission threatened to take action against the host, ABC and Disney. 

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," said Brendan Carr, appointed to his role by U.S. President Donald Trump. He later denied threatening to take action and said Kimmel was "in the situation he's in because of his ratings."

Before the show began, Trump posted online saying he might take further against the network depending on Kimmel's remarks.

"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," he wrote on Truth Social, referring to the $15 million ABC agreed to pay toward his presidential library to settle a lawsuit over an anchor's inaccurate on-air assertion about Trump's civil liability in a rape case.

"This one sounds even more lucrative."

Kimmel's suspension came as Trump continues a practice of threatening, suing and pressuring media entities whose coverage it deems unfavourable. The president not only settled a case with ABC but also CBS this year, and has an ongoing defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal. A judge dismissed another lawsuit against the New York Times earlier this week.

Republicans in Congress have also pulled federal funding from NPR and PBS, both public broadcasting organizations in the U.S.

Kimmel made note of that pressure in his monologue Tuesday. 

"They want to pick and choose what the news is. I know that's not as interesting as muzzling a comedian, but it's so important to have a free press and it's nuts that we aren't paying more attention to it."

How the FCC torpedoed Jimmy Kimmel | About That

More than 430 movie, TV and stage stars as well as comedians, directors and writers added their names to an open letter published by the American Civil Liberties Union on Monday arguing Kimmel's suspension was "a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation."

"This is unconstitutional and un-American. The government is threatening private companies and individuals that the President disagrees with. We can't let this threat to our freedom of speech go unanswered," the letter read.

Hollywood and Broadway stars including Jennifer Aniston, Robert De Niro, Selena Gomez, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep urged Americans "fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights" in signing. A number of Canadian artists added their names to the list, including Michael J. Fox, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Keanu Reeves, Ryan Reynolds and Seth Rogen.

Late-night hosts mock Trump as outrage over Kimmel suspension grows

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