Robert De Niro Makes Surprise Cameo as ‘New’ FCC Chair on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Jimmy Kimmel‘s return to television nearly a week after his show was put on “indefinite” hiatus featured a surprise cameo from Robert De Niro.

On the Sept. 23 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the Oscar-winner, 82, performed as a fictional new FCC chairperson in an unexpected sketch. De Niro, who appeared via video, played on the mob boss persona he’s cultivated after playing similar characters in movies for decades.

Kimmel thought he was going to speak to the real FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, but was instead met with De Niro. When Kimmel told De Niro it seemed like the FCC was using mob tactics to suppress free speech, De Niro quickly replied, “What the f— did you just say to me?”

When Kimmel reminded De Niro that he couldn’t curse on broadcast television or he’d face an FCC fine, De Niro shrugged him off. “I am the f—— FCC, I can say whatever the f— I want.”

“It sounds a little like threat and intimidation to me, Chairman,” Kimmel said.

“It’s just me, Jimmy, the chairman of the FCC, gently suggesting that you gently shut the f— up,” De Niro said.

Kimmel’s return comes one day after the Walt Disney Company announced in a press release that the late-night show was set to return on Sept. 23 after being off the air nearly a week. 

The statement said that Disney’s initial decision to “suspend production” was out of a desire to “avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country.”

“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,” the statement concluded.

Shortly after the announcement, Sinclair, the broadcasting company that makes up the nation’s largest ABC affiliate group, announced in a statement on social media that it would be “preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming.”

Nexstar Media, which operates 28 ABC-affiliated stations, confirmed that it will continue to preempt the show following Kimmel’s on-air comments about  the fatal shooting of right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk.

“We made a decision last week to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! following what ABC referred to as Mr. Kimmel’s ‘ill-timed and insensitive’ comments at a critical time in our national discourse. We stand by that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve,” Nexstar said in the statement.

On Sept. 17, an ABC spokesperson told PEOPLE that the show would be on pause “indefinitely” after the comments the host made in his Sept. 15 monologue.

“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 during the broadcast. “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.”

“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, as the broadcast cut to a clip of President Donald Trump taking questions from reporters after the murder. One offered their condolences for the death of the president’s ally and “friend” Kirk.

Yet, when asked about how he was holding up, Trump, 79, said, “I think very good, and by the way, right there where you see all the trucks, they just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House.”

The president continued discussing the ballroom plans, noting that the result would “be a beauty.” Then, as cameras cut back to Kimmel, he said, “Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief, construction.”

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Kimmel, however, previously offered his condolences to Kirk’s family on social media, writing, “Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human? 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.”

Kimmel’s removal followed Nexstar Media’s announcement that it would acquire rival broadcast company Tegna for $6.2 billion and place itself in 80% of America’s TV-owning households, per a press release. The acquisition requires final approval from the Trump-controlled FCC.

Nexstar later shared that it “strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets.”

The suspension sparked an outcry from Hollywood, including from other late-night hosts. Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, John Oliver, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert all spoke out in support of Kimmel following the news, as did Conan O’Brien, David Letterman, Howard Stern, and the co-hosts of The View.

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Hours before the news of Kimmel’s return, over 400 celebrities signed a letter defending the constitutional right to free speech and supporting Kimmel. Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck and Tom Hanks were among the signatures on the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) letter, along with prominent Disney star Selena Gomez, Pedro Pascal, Diego Luna, Martin Short and Meryl Streep.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.