Jimmy Kimmel made his return to air with an emotional monologue in which he called out “anti-American” beliefs and took aim at Donald Trump.
Speaking on Tuesday’s show, which was his first since he was pulled from air for comments he made about the suspect in Charlie Kirk killing, Kimmel said it was “never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man”.
The presenter became visibly emotional as he said this.
But he didn’t shy away from joking about Trump and criticising his administration’s attacks on free speech.
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Attacking Trump and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr, Kimmel said: “The President made it very clear he wants to see me and the hundreds of people who work here, fired from our jobs. Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke…
He added: “This show is not important, what is important is we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”
Kimmel pretended to open a statement written for him to read aloud by Disney, before reading out the words: “How to reactivate your Disney+ subscription”.
He also joked that the Trump administration’s attempts to cancel him had “backfired bigly” and that the president may “have to release the Epstein files” as a distraction.
There was also an appearance from Robert De Niro during Kimmel’s show opening, after the presenter compared Carr to a mob boss.
Kimmel’s return wasn’t available to watch for all Americans though, with affiliates Nexstar and Sinclair refusing to air the programme.
Trump has, of course, reacted to Kimmel’s return, saying he “can’t believe” ABC let him return.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said “we’re going to test ABC out on this,” suggesting he could somehow get money from them over the controversy.
Some pointed out that Trump’s post had effectively seen him admit that his government was involved in Kimmel’s removal.