Jimmy Kimmel responds to suspension: 'To silence a comedian the president doesn’t like is anti-American’

Jimmy Kimmel returned to television tonight with a monologue that took aim at President Donald Trump and accused the federal government of trying to silence him.

The late night host was back on air less than a week after ABC suspended his show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, over his comments about the assassination of Kirk, which prompted a not-so-subtle threat from the Trump administration that they might warrant regulatory action against ABC.

He addressed the controversy in his opening monologue., saying "to silence a comedian the government doesn’t like is anti-American."

“The president of the United States made it very clear he wants to see me and the hundreds of people who work here fired from their job," he said. "Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke.”

Kimmel's suspension has dominated political discussion for the past week, drawing praise from President Donald Trump and kicking off a firestorm of criticism and protests in Hollywood, where the show is filmed. Many accused the network of shutting down political speech, and some called for a boycott of Disney in response.

Under mounting public pressure, the Walt Disney Co., which owns ABC, announced Monday that it was bringing the show back.

It's a 180-degree turn from last week, when ABC pulled the long-running show "indefinitely" after facing threats from the head of the Federal Communications Commission.

"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 said.

Kimmel aired at 11:35 p.m. on the East Coast, and will air at the same time locally in California. His guests are Glen Powell and Sarah McLachlan. But the focus was on his monologue.

Kimmel wasn't back on all ABC channels. Broadcasting giants Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar, which own several local ABC stations, still are dropping Kimmel in favor of other programming.

This mostly affects viewers outside California, where the only ABC Sinclair station is in Eureka. Nexstar doesn't operate an ABC station in the state.

The scene in Hollywood

On Tuesday afternoon, viewers lined up at the El Capitan Entertainment Centre on Hollywood Boulevard to see Jimmy Kimmel's first show back on air. The show typically tapes at 4:30 p.m., and audience members arrived well before then to get in.

One woman from Burbank said she'd gone online to get tickets last week after Kimmel's show was suspended, just in case it was coming back on air. Another audience member, Kristian Williams, said she'd requested tickets months ago and just happened to be viewing the show on its first night back.

"When he got suspended, I was very shocked. I wasn't expecting it and I don't think that his show should have been canceled for what he said," Williams said. "So I'm happy to see that he got it back."

Some showed up to cheer on Kimmel from outside the taping. Jessica Brown, a background actor who lives in Los Angeles, said she'd been coming to Hollywood Boulevard since the late night show was suspended, asking passersby to sign banners in support of the TV host.

"It was a very clear message that we cannot have free speech," she said. "That's very scary and that's detrimental for artists, for professional comedians. Not only is it our livelihood, but it's our rights."

The backstory

The controversy started last Monday, when Kimmel talked about Kirk's killing in his opening monologue, poking fun at Trump and commenting on the right's response to the assassination.

"We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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," Kimmel said.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr then went on a podcast and suggested that Kimmel’s comments might warrant regulatory action against ABC. Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar quickly announced they would preempt Kimmel's show in favor of other programming. Soon after, ABC said it was suspending the program.

In a statement after Disney announced that Kimmel would be returning to air, Sinclair said it was in discussions with ABC and evaluating "the show’s potential return."

"Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming," said a company-issued statement posted on X.

Sinclair owns nearly 200 stations in 100 markets, including a CBS station in Bakersfield and Fox affiliate in Fresno. It's the second biggest TV operator in the U.S. with more than 30 ABC affiliate stations. Nexstar, which also plans to preempt the program, has more than 30 ABC stations.

In total, there are more than 230 ABC stations in the U.S.

L.A. protests

The suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! made waves in Los Angeles, where entertainment unions expressed concern about free speech and jobs.

Hundreds of actors, musicians and film directors signed a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union decrying the move. Monday morning, some of those unions, local politicians, and supporters gathered in Hollywood to protest ABC's decision to pull Kimmel off the air.

"This is not just about Jimmy Kimmel," said U.S. Rep. Laura Friedman, a California Democrat. "This is about a trend that we've seen of this administration threatening news sources and broadcasters that air speech that's critical of Donald Trump."

Kimmel tapes in the heart of Hollywood, across the street from the Dolby Theater and near tourist attractions like the TCL Chinese Theatre and Madame Tussauds.

Todd Doten was working in the area on Tuesday afternoon, handing out brochures for Hollywood tours. He said he spends his days on Hollywood Boulevard, and that most of the people he sees going to see tapings of the show are locals. Still, he said that their presence did help some of the restaurants in the area.

Max Calder, a stuntman and actor who showed up to support Kimmel, said threats to the show came at a time when the entertainment industry was already struggling.

"There's so many people's jobs on the line that are being threatened by the administration and I'm sure it's a trend that's going to keep continuing," he said.

Kimmel's show has been running since 2003.