Jimmy Kimmel returned to late-night television on Tuesday with an emotional monologue that rebuked President Donald Trump and criticized federal pressure on broadcasters, drawing a standing ovation in his Hollywood studio and renewed conflict with powerful ABC affiliate owners who still refuse to carry his show. At one point, in a line that rippled across social media, Kimmel joked that Trump “might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this,” a quip that underscored the host’s intent to resume combative political commentary on his first night back after a six-day suspension.
The host opened by defending free expression and addressing head-on the remarks about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk that led ABC to pull “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from its schedule on 17 September. “Our government cannot be allowed to control what we do and do not say on television, and we have to stand up to it,” he said, before adding through tears that “it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.” He told viewers he understood why some found his earlier comments “ill-timed or unclear,” but said the suspected gunman “does not represent anyone,” calling the attack the act of “a sick person.”
Kimmel then shifted to the political backdrop of his suspension, claiming the White House sought his removal and describing attempts to silence comedians as “un-American.” He thanked supporters from across the spectrum, including some conservatives, and said he was “embarrassed” to have taken the ability to speak freely for granted “until they pulled my friend Stephen [Colbert] off the air” and pressured affiliates to drop his program. The audience, which had greeted him with prolonged cheers and chants, remained on its feet for stretches of the 16-minute address.
Returning to one of his sharpest targets, Kimmel mocked Trump’s public celebration of the suspension and his claims about the show’s ratings. “I feel sorry for the president because he tried his best to cancel me. Instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show,” Kimmel said, adding: “He might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this.” The Los Angeles Times recorded the exchange and the line about the Epstein materials; international outlets later highlighted the jab as the moment that most visibly stunned parts of the crowd.
The episode capped nearly a week of turmoil for Disney-owned ABC, which pulled the program on 17 September after Kimmel’s 15 September monologue criticized efforts “to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk,” prompting backlash from station groups and Trump-administration officials. Disney said the hiatus was intended “to avoid further inflaming a tense situation,” and reinstated the show for 23 September after what it called “thoughtful conversations” with the host. Kimmel did not issue a formal apology, but he offered clarifications and framed his return as a defense of speech rather than of any one joke.
The network’s restoration has not restored full carriage. Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Inc., two of the largest owners of ABC-affiliated stations, said Tuesday they would continue to preempt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in their markets, replacing it with other programming despite ABC’s decision to resume production. Together, the groups reach roughly a quarter of U.S. TV households; their decisions ensure a patchwork broadcast footprint even as the show appears on ABC’s owned-and-operated stations and on Disney streaming outlets.
Kimmel used the opening minutes of his comeback to criticize Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, who had publicly urged action against the program in the days before ABC suspended it, saying on a podcast that affiliates could address the matter “the easy way or the hard way.” In Tuesday’s show, Kimmel lampooned the episode with a bit in which actor Robert De Niro pretended to be the regulator on a live video feed, joking about “mob tactics.” Carr has since denied that government pressure played any role in ABC’s decision, but his remarks drew censure from free-speech advocates and a rare public rebuke from another FCC commissioner.
Trump weighed in again before taping, writing on his social platform that he “can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back,” and suggesting he might “test ABC out on this,” while boasting about a past settlement with the network. Kimmel read a tongue-in-cheek “statement from Disney” about how to reactivate Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions, a nod to consumer boycotts that followed the show’s suspension. He also said he “felt sorry” for a leader who “celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke,” and urged viewers to speak up if other late-night hosts face similar pressure.
Disney’s reinstatement followed a wave of backlash from entertainers, unions and civil-liberties groups. The American Civil Liberties Union organized an open letter that it said was signed by more than 400 artists—including multiple Oscar winners—calling the suspension a “dark moment for freedom of speech” and urging the company to restore the show. By late Monday, the ACLU said the count of signatories and public supporters had continued to rise, with tens of thousands adding their names online.
At the affiliates, however, demands have hardened. Nexstar first announced on 17 September that it would “preempt ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ for the foreseeable future,” citing the need for “respectful, constructive dialogue” after what it called “offensive and insensitive” comments from Kimmel. Sinclair said Monday it would continue to block the program and fill the time slot with news, signaling that carriage would not resume until unspecified concerns were addressed. Neither group indicated a timetable for any change of position on Tuesday; ABC has not provided a market-by-market count of the affected households.
As for the controversy that triggered the hiatus, Kimmel reiterated on Tuesday that he intended no disrespect to the slain activist or his family. He praised Erika Kirk’s widely reported message of forgiveness and said he “gets why [people] are upset” if they believed he had blamed any group for the killing. “If the situation was reversed, there’s a good chance I’d have felt the same way,” he said, returning repeatedly to the theme that the government should not decide what may be said on a comedy show. The Associated Press summarized the monologue’s key passages as Kimmel sought to lower the temperature while asserting his right to speak.
The “Epstein files” line arrived as a throwaway in that broader argument—an applause line and provocation rolled into one. The Los Angeles Times recorded it as Kimmel dismissed Trump’s boasts about hurting the show: “He might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this.” The remark alluded to long-running disputes in Washington over what records tied to Jeffrey Epstein’s network should be made public and when; earlier this year, partial releases produced little new information, but the phrase has remained a byword in political culture wars. Kimmel has previously mocked Republican maneuvering around those disclosures, and on Tuesday he used the reference to belittle Trump’s fixation on the program’s fate.
The show intercut its argument with comedy. After the faux FCC segment featuring De Niro, Kimmel returned to standard monologue fare, riffing on Trump’s appearance at the United Nations and lampooning pseudo-scientific claims about Tylenol in pregnancy, before moving on to celebrity and viral-video beats. The structure signaled a deliberate transition from grievance to routine, even as the unresolved standoff with affiliates left the show’s broadcast footprint diminished in dozens of markets.
Industry observers noted that the reinstatement creates an unusual distribution split: ABC’s owned stations and many independent affiliates carrying the program as scheduled, while large swaths of the country see local news or syndicated fare in the same slot. Nexstar and Sinclair both emphasized that episodes remain available through Disney’s streaming platforms, a workaround that softens but does not eliminate the impact of preemptions on overnight ratings and advertiser reach. Kimmel, for his part, told viewers the proper response was not to cancel subscriptions but to “stand up” against official intimidation and to be “ten times as loud” if other shows face similar treatment.
Whether the détente with Disney endures may depend less on the content of Kimmel’s jokes than on the posture of officials who have waded into programming disputes. Carr said this week that “government pressure played no role” in the suspension and that Kimmel’s predicament was “about ratings,” a characterization the host rejected from the stage. Another FCC commissioner publicly countered that the agency lacks authority to “police content or punish broadcasters for speech the government dislikes,” warning that corporate capitulation to political threats imperils First Amendment norms. Kimmel echoed that warning in urging audiences to reject what he called “un-American” pressure.
For now, the immediate facts are clear: ABC restored “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on 23 September after less than a week off the air; Kimmel returned with a mix of contrition and defiance, trained his sharpest lines on Trump and on perceived government strong-arming, and punctuated the monologue with a barbed reference to the “Epstein files” that drew gasps and laughter. Large affiliate groups kept the show off their schedules anyway, promising further negotiations. The battle over who controls a late-night comedian’s microphone has moved, at least for a night, from corporate conference rooms back to a stage on Hollywood Boulevard.