Jimmy Kimmel made his highly watched return to late-night television last night, closing his 18-minute monologue not with a punchline but with a plea.
The ABC host — suspended last week for his comments about Charlie Kirk’s alleged murderer — ended his first night back by pointing to the faith of Kirk’s widow, Erika, as an example for everyone to follow.
“I don’t know if you saw this on Sunday,” Kimmel said. “Erica Kirk forgave the man who shot her husband. She forgave him. That is an example we should follow.”
Kimmel, holding back tears, continued: “If you believe in the teachings of Jesus as I do, there it was. That’s it. A selfless act of grace, forgiveness from a grieving widow. It touched me deeply, and I hope it touches many. And if there’s anything we should take from this tragedy to carry forward, I hope it can be that — and not this.”
But that wasn’t the only moment worth remembering. Kimmel also thanked those who supported him during his suspension from ABC, as well as an unlikely list of conservative voices who defended his right to stay on air, even if they hate his politics.
“Weirdly, 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. “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.”
He also hit back at the FCC’s threats: “If we don’t have free speech, then we just don’t have a free country. It’s as simple as that. If this most fundamental right is allowed to perish, then the rest of our rights and liberties will topple just like dominoes.”
And in a rare moment of optimism, Kimmel left the door open for common ground.
“Maybe the silver lining from this is we found one thing we can agree on,” he said. “And maybe we’ll even find another one. Maybe we can get a little bit closer together.”
Kimmel’s return comes after ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Sept. 17 over comments he made about Kirk’s alleged murderer — remarks many criticized as ill-timed and incorrect. The suspension sparked protests, subscription cancellations for Disney-owned streaming platforms, and bipartisan backlash against what many called government overreach.
