This image released by Disney shows Jimmy Kimmel hosting his late night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in Los Angeles on September 23, 2025. RANDY HOLMES / AP
Jimmy Kimmel returned to late-night television on Tuesday, September 23, after a nearly week-long suspension and, in an emotional monologue where he appeared close to tears, said that he wasn't trying to joke about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
"I have no illusions about changing anyone's mind, but I do want to make something clear, because it's important to me as a human and that is, you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man," Kimmel said. "I don't think there's anything funny about it."
He added that he wasn't trying to blame any specific group "for the actions of what (...) was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make." He said he understood his remarks last week to some "felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both."
But he made no apologies. And he criticized the ABC affiliates who took his show off the air. Two groups that represent about a quarter of ABC stations, Sinclair and Nexstar, ordered their outlets not to show Kimmel on Tuesday. "That's not legal," Kimmel said. "That's not American. It's un-American."
