Jimmy Kimmel says he never intended to “make light” of Charlie Kirk murder as he makes return to TV

Jimmy Kimmel has made an emotional return to late-night TV, saying he never intended to “make light” of Charlie Kirk’s murder in the comments that saw his show briefly cancelled.

Speaking on air for the first time about his six-day suspension from ABC last night (Tuesday September 23), he nodded to the controversy by seamlessly taking aim at Donald Trump‘s recent “autism announcement”, quipping: “I’m not sure who had a weirder 48 hours, me or the CEO of Tylenol.”

Things took a more solemn tone when he addressed his comments about late far-right activist Kirk, whose killer he previously suggested was “MAGA”. The subsequent fallout saw the show taken off-air, a move that sparked a strong response from either side of the political spectrum. Trump celebrated the decision, while most of Hollywood’s labour unions reacted to the decision with anger and protest.

Last night, a visibly emotional Kimmel said it was “never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man”.

“I don’t think there’s anything funny about it,” a tearful Kimmel continued. “I posted a message on Instagram on the day he was killed, sending love to his family and asking for compassion, and I meant it. And I still do.

“Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions. It was a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make, but to some, that felt ill-timed or unclear or maybe both, and for those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset.”

He said were the situation was reversed, there was a “good chance” he’d have felt the same way. “I have many friends and family members on the other side who I love and remain close to, even though we don’t agree on politics at all,” he added. “I don’t think the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk represents anyone; this was a sick person who believed violence was a solution, and it isn’t.”

Kimmel went on to emphasise that the take home message was not about the importance of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, but the fact “we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.” He went on to bash the cancellation of fellow late-night frontman Stephen Colbert and speak out on the importance of free speech.

He made sure to thank friends in the industry who who spoke out for him – among them Colbert, John Oliver, Conan O’Brien, James Corden, Jay Leno, Howard Stern and David Letterman – but also extended thanks to far rights voices who backed him over the last week.

“Maybe most of all, I want to thank the people who don’t support my show and what I believe, but support my right to share those beliefs anyway,” he said. “People I never would have imagined, like Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Candace Owens, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul. Even my old pal Ted Cruz, who, believe it or not, said something very beautiful on my behalf.

“Even though I don’t agree with many of those people on most subjects, some of the things they say even make me want to throw up, it takes courage for them to speak out against this administration, and they did, and they deserve credit for it.”

Love this. Jimmy Kimmel comes out swinging: “The President made it very clear he wants to see me & the hundreds of people who work here fired from our jobs. Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he cannot take a joke.”

pic.twitter.com/fAwfqVsKJq

— Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) September 24, 2025

He also addressed Trump’s condemnation of the show, and featured a clip that saw the President tell reporters, “Anybody could replace him, guy had no talent. Kimmel had– look, he was fired. He had no talent. He’s a wack job. But he had no talent. And more importantly, the talent – a lot of people have no talent, they get ratings, but he had no ratings.”

“Well, I do tonight!” he said with a smile to huge cheers the audience. “You almost have to feel sorry for him, he tried his best to cancel me. Instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show. That backfired bigly.

“He might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this now.”

The backlash to Kimmel’s cancellation worked itself into Trump’s speech at Kirk’s memorial on Sunday (September 21), where he once again took aim at his political opponents on the “radical left” and addressed the reaction to the show being axed.

“The same commentators who this week are screaming fascism over a cancelled late-night TV show, where the anchor had no talent and no ratings, last week were implying that Charlie Kirk deserved what happened to him,” he said.

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