Jimmy Fallon Laughs When Sean Penn Tells FCC to ‘Suck Less’ as Jimmy Kimmel Set to Return

Sean Penn has a message for the FCC, and Jimmy Fallon is listening.

Following the news of the return of Jimmy Kimmel Live! after its indefinite suspension by ABC, the 65-year-old actor made an appearance on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that same day and offered a few words for the Federal Communications Commission — well, two words to be exact.

While speaking with Fallon, 51, Penn jokingly asked if there was a “guillotine” above his head on set, before pulling out an envelope.

“I found this in the dressing room. And I just thought I’d get it out of the way because, you know, it’s got brevity, I suppose. It was to the FCC. It was just this,” he said, pulling out a patch featuring the message “SUCK LESS” in all capital letters.

Fallon then laughed in response and offered a “thank you” to Penn for finding it. “I left that in there,” he said. “Or a friend of mine did.”

On Sept. 17, ABC and Nexstar confirmed to PEOPLE that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be pulled “indefinitely” due to fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s remarks about the shooting death of Charlie Kirk two days prior. The following week, on Monday, Sept. 22, the network announced that the show would be returning to air.

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said in his monologue. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”

“On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this,” he continued, before a clip played of President Donald Trump partially addressing reporters’ questions about how he was coping with former ally Kirk’s death before moving on to comment on the construction of the White House ballroom.

The cameras then cut back to Kimmel. “Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief, construction,” the comedian said.

Ahead of the taping, Kimmel offered his condolences on social media to Kirk’s family via social media. “Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?” he wrote. “On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.”

During its announcement of Kimmel’s return, the network noted, “Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive,” the statement read, referring to comments the comedian made on Sept. 15 about Kirk’s assassination.

“We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”

Nexstar Media is the largest local broadcast and digital media company in the U.S. that owns more than 200 television stations in 116 markets. In a statement to PEOPLE on Sept. 17, it noted that its “owned and partner television stations affiliated with the ABC Television Network will preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! for the foreseeable future, beginning with tonight’s show.”

The company recently announced plans to acquire rival broadcast company Tegna for $6.2 billion, putting Nexstar in 80% of America’s TV-owning households, per a press release. The acquisition requires final approval from the Trump-controlled Federal Communications Commission.

Similarly, Sinclair said last week that it “objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the assassination of Charlie Kirk” and, after discussions with ABC, made the decision to “indefinitely preempt” Jimmy Kimmel Live! beginning that night.

On Sept. 22, Sinclair announced it will continue holding the show from its stations. “Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming,” the company said in a statement on social media.

Last week, FCC Chair Brendan Carr praised Nexstar on pressuring ABC to remove Kimmel, writing on X that “it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values.”

Fallon addressed Kimmel’s suspension during a segment on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Sept. 18.

“Big story is that Jimmy Kimmel was suspended by ABC after pressure from the FCC, leaving everyone thinking WTF,” he began. “This morning, I woke up to 100 text messages from my dad saying, ‘I’m sorry they canceled your show.’ Hang on, that’s not me. That’s Jimmy Kimmel.”

“But to be honest with you all, I don’t know what’s going on, and no one does,” he said. “But I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he’s a decent, funny, and loving guy, and I hope he comes back.”

As the audience applauded him, Fallon continued: “Yeah, a lot of people are worried that we won’t keep saying what we want to say or that we’ll be censored, but I’m gonna cover the president’s trip to the U.K. just like I normally would. Here we go.”

While recapping the trip, Fallon poked fun at President Donald Trump, saying “he looked incredibly handsome, as always, his tie was exactly the right way. And his face looked like a color that exists in nature. And his hair looked better than Conrad’s from The Summer I Turned Pretty.”

He proceeded to reference photos of Trump alongside Jeffrey Epstein that U.K. activists projected onto the castle on Sept. 16.

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Several comedians and organizations have spoken out in support of Kimmel since the network preempted airings of his show. Hours before news of its return, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) published an open letter defending the constitutional right to free speech with the signatures of more than 400 major names in the entertainment industry.

“Last week, Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air after the government threatened a private company with retaliation, marking a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation,” it read in part. “In an attempt to silence its critics, our government has resorted to threatening the livelihoods of journalists, talk show hosts, artists, creatives, and entertainers across the board. This runs counter to the values our nation was built upon, and our Constitution guarantees.”

“Regardless of our political affiliation, or whether we engage in politics or not, we all love our country,” the letter continued. “We also share the belief that our voices should never be silenced by those in power – because if it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us.”

It concluded: “This is the moment to defend free speech across our nation. We encourage all Americans to join us, along with the ACLU, in the fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights.”