Jimmy Kimmel Back on Air: 'Unleash the Epstein Files'

      Jimmy Kimmel made a comeback to his late-night show a week after the Trump Administration attempted to have him removed from the airwaves due to comments he made regarding Charlie Kirk's death.

      Last Wednesday, ABC suspended Kimmel’s show after Brendan Carr, the Federal Communications Commission chair appointed by Trump, urged ABC network affiliates across the nation to stop airing Kimmel. Trump later claimed that Kimmel was let go because he had “no talent and no ratings.”

      “Well, I do tonight,” Kimmel responded to a loud ovation upon his return on Tuesday. “He tried his best to cancel me, but instead he got millions of people to watch the show. That really backfired. He might need to release the Epstein files to distract us now.”

      You can view the monologue here if it’s not visible above.

      Kimmel's suspension by Disney-owned ABC faced widespread backlash, being viewed as an attempt by the president to suppress a comedian whose humor he disapproved of. Free speech advocates from both sides of the political spectrum voiced their objections, and many viewers canceled their Disney+ subscriptions in protest. Creatives, including Damon Lindelof, co-creator of ABC’s Lost, stated that they would refrain from working with Disney unless the issue was resolved.

      Additionally, 400 celebrities, such as Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, and Jennifer Aniston, signed an ACLU letter asserting that attempts to curb free speech “strike at the heart of what it means to live in a free country.”

      ABC pulled Kimmel after two companies that own around 60 ABC affiliates, Nexstar and Sinclair, announced they would not broadcast his show. Sinclair and Nexstar have indicated that Kimmel will remain off the air in certain markets, including Seattle, Portland, Oregon, Columbus, Ohio, St. Louis, Little Rock, Arkansas, and Birmingham, Alabama.

      Moreover, Trump has threatened legal action.

      “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back,” he posted on Truth Social. “The White House was informed by ABC that his show was canceled! Something changed since then because his audience is GONE, and his ‘talent’ was never there. Why would they want someone back who performs so poorly, who isn’t funny, and who jeopardizes the Network by airing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE? He is just another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution. I think we’re going to test ABC on this. Let’s see how it goes. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one seems even more profitable. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel struggle with his poor ratings.”

      What Jimmy Kimmel Stated Upon His Return

      Kimmel was suspended after he remarked during his September 15 monologue that the suspect in Carr's murder was affiliated with the pro-Trump “MAGA gang” while the conservative activist was speaking at a Utah college.

      Although the suspect, Tyler Robinson, grew up in a conservative environment, prosecutors mentioned that he had become “more political and started to lean more to the left – becoming more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented,” according to CNN. Kirk had a history of making anti-gay and anti-trans comments.

      In his return on Tuesday night, Kimmel clarified that he never intended to make light of Kirk's murder.

      “I want to clarify something that is very important to me: It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” Kimmel stated, his voice trembling. “I don’t think there’s anything humorous about it … nor was it my aim to assign blame to any particular group.”

      He also referred to the suspect as “obviously a deeply disturbed individual.”

      “I understand that to some, my comments felt ill-timed or unclear or perhaps both, and I understand why those I may have pointed a finger at would be upset,” Kimmel added.

      He stressed that he didn’t believe Kirk's shooter “represented anyone,” saying, “this was a sick individual who thought violence was a solution, and it never is.”

      Kimmel mentioned that he and his family have received death threats due to his political jokes. “I know these kinds of threats don’t come from the sort of people on the right whom I know and respect,” he noted.

      Kimmel further emphasized that his suspension highlighted the significance of “living in a country that permits us to have a show like this.”

      He described the attempts to silence him as “un-American” and critiqued Carr's threats to investigate ABC over Kimmel’s show as “uninformed.”

      “Brendan Carr is the most embarrassing Carr Republicans have embraced since this one,” Kimmel remarked, showing an image of a Tesla cybertruck with “TRUMP” written on it. “And that’s saying a lot.”

      Kimmel also asserted: “This show is not crucial. What