Jimmy Kimmel took aim at Trump and the FCC chair in his emotional return to late-night

Jimmy Kimmel returned to ABC on Tuesday night.Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty ImagesJimmy Kimmel is back at ABC after being suspended over comments about Charlie Kirk.Sinclair and Nexstar still aren't airing Kimmel's show on their ABC affiliate stations.An hour before the show aired, Trump took to Truth Social, where he slammed Kimmel and ABC.Jimmy Kimmel returned to the air on Tuesday night with an emotional monologue that took aim at FCC Chair Brendan Carr and President Donald Trump while seeking common ground with conservatives defending free speech.Kimmel walked out on stage to resounding cheers from the audience. His appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" was his first public response since ABC temporarily suspended production of the show last week."I also want to thank all of you. You supported our show, cared enough to do something about it, to make your voices heard so that mine could be heard. I'll never forget it," Kimmel said.Several minutes into his monologue, Kimmel teared up and assured his audience that he never intended to make light of the killing of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk."And the truth is, I don't think what I have to say is gonna make much of a difference. If you like me, you like me. If you don't, you don't. I have no illusions about changing anyone's mind," Kimmel said."This show is not important. What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this," Kimmel added.Kimmel lays into Trump and the FCC's CarrIn the latter half of his monologue, Kimmel criticized Trump's stance on free speech and accused him of being unable to take a joke.Kimmel said he felt lucky to live in a country where he had the freedom to speak."And that's something I'm embarrassed to say, I took for granted, until they pulled my friend Stephen off the air, and tried to coerce the affiliates to run our show in the cities that you live in to take my show off the air," Kimmel said, referring to Stephen Colbert. "That's not legal. That's not American. That is un-American."Kimmel also slammed the FCC's Carr, whose comments on a podcast preceded the show's suspension.Kimmel called Carr's statements "a direct violation of the First Amendment" and "not a particularly intelligent threat to make in public.""You wanna hear a mob boss make a threat like that? You have to hide a microphone in a deli and park outside in a van with a tape recorder all night. This genius said it on a podcast," Kimmel added.Kimmel's monologue is a sign that he and other late-night hosts won't go quietlyKimmel's tone during his monologue on Tuesday is a clear indicator that he and other late-night show hosts will continue to be a thorn in Trump's side. At a moment where he could have struck a more conciliatory tone with the president, Kimmel ceded no ground where his rights on free speech were concerned.And that was despite harsh criticism from the president. Trump, a hour before the show, took to Truth Social to criticize both the host and the network."I can't believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. The White House was told by ABC that his Show was canceled!" he said.Trump wrote in his post that Kimmel was "another arm of the DNC" and said Kimmel's show was, to the best of his knowledge, a "major Illegal Campaign Contribution.""I think we're going to test ABC out on this. Let's see how we do," Trump said, before referencing a bumper settlement he received from ABC after he sued the network for defamation."This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers," he added.Despite the threats from the administration, Kimmel and the other late-night hosts have held the line. Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show," dedicated two recent monologues to criticizing the Trump administration's stance on free speech.In his Monday night episode, Stewart said President Donald Trump was "using all the levers of government" to punish his opponents."So you can get on board with that and say, I'm with that, or you can join the rest of us and fight like hell for this constitutional republic," he said.John Oliver, another comedian known for sharp takes on the news, dedicated a full half-hour of his "Last Week Tonight" episode on Sunday to breaking down the Kimmel fracas and its implications for free speech."He's just the latest canary in the coal mine," Oliver said of Kimmel. "A mine that at this point now seems more dead canary than coal."Whatever Trump's plans are for Kimmel, one thing is clear: Late-night is a united front, and they're going to keep talking about him for as long as they can.Overwhelming support for KimmelPrior to Tuesday night's show, Kimmel had not publicly addressed the suspension. In an Instagram post on Tuesday morning, Kimmel shared a photo of himself and Norman Lear, the late American screenwriter and producer who was known for championing progressive causes."Missing this guy today," Kimmel wrote.Some fans appeared outside the show's filming location on Hollywood Boulevard on Tuesday to express their support for the late-night comedian's return.Supporters appeared outside the filming location of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Tuesday.Aude Guerrucci/ReutersKimmel's suspension last week had become a cultural flash point that many saw as an encroachment on free speech. Hollywood stars, fellow late-night television hosts, and politicians vocally expressed support for Kimmel. Protesters gathered outside Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, and in New York, where another rally took place outside of ABC's offices. Meanwhile, some Disney+ and Hulu subscribers threatened to cancel their subscriptions in protest.Disney-owned ABC had made the call last week to pull the late-night television star from the air after Kimmel's comments about Charlie Kirk's death and Trump. His comments had drawn backlash from the FCC's Carr, and affiliate station owners Nexstar and Sinclair said they wouldn't air the show.The situation with Nexstar and Sinclair isn't settled, despite Kimmel's return. After the Walt Disney Company announced Kimmel's return on Monday, Sinclair said in a statement that it would not air the show on its ABC affiliate stations, replacing it with news programming. The company said it was still in discussions with ABC and evaluating the show's "potential return." Carr said he supported the company's decision.Last week, Sinclair said it would not lift the suspension on Kimmel's show until "appropriate steps" were taken and called for an apology to Kirk's family, among other demands.Nexstar followed suit. On Tuesday, the company said it would also continue to air alternative programming instead of Kimmel's show on its ABC affiliate stations.Read the original article on Business Insider

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