Ethan Hawke Jokes Jimmy Kimmel Was Sent to ‘Russian Gulag’ amid Suspension

Ethan Hawke is happy to see Jimmy Kimmel “back” in the U.S.

The Blue Moon star, 54, appeared as a guest on the Wednesday, Sept. 24 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! — as he jokingly revealed that he thought its host was sent to a “Russian Gulag” during the show’s brief hiatus this past week.

After Hawke walked out for his interview with Kimmel, 57, the late-night host brought up the “really bad planning” of having his guest appear on an episode filmed in Los Angeles, when Hawke lives in Brooklyn. Kimmel is set to film episodes from Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House next week, from Sept. 29 through Oct. 3.

“When you just said that, I was like, ‘Why didn’t you have me on then?’ [It would’ve] saved me the flight,” Hawke said, before joking that there was “some weird delay” that prevented him from appearing on Live! last week — alluding to the controversy surrounding ABC’s decision to temporarily pull the show.

“I didn’t get to go on when I was supposed to go on,” he added. “I don’t know. I don’t watch the news much, I don’t know what that was about.”

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Kimmel then called Hawke a “victim of the preemption,” while the star joked about Kimmel’s previous whereabouts. “Well I’m glad to have you back in the United States of America. I was told you were sent to a Russian Gulag. But luckily, you’re back,” he joked, referring to the former Soviet Union forced labor camps.

“It’s hard to tell the difference now between the Gulags and the United States,” Kimmel said.

On a more serious note, Hawke added, “But last night was amazing and we’re all really proud of you.”

The interview wasn’t Hawke’s only appearance on Live! on Wednesday, as he also crashed the monologue when Kimmel was discussing an open letter from American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which was released on Monday after being signed by more than 400 celebrities. The letter, released hours before the Walt Disney Company shared Kimmel would return to air, defended the constitutional right to free speech six days after Disney’s ABC pulled the show from the air.

“I’m not supposed to be out here yet,” Hawke said. “I heard you talking about the letter of endorsement. I want to let you know, right here, man-to-man, face-to-face, what an honor it was to sign this letter. It was one of the great privileges of my life.”

After Hawke called Kimmel a “hero,” the host attempted to find Hawke’s signature on the long list of names. “I’m not the type of guy, I thought, it looked like you were kind of done,” Hawke joked, attempting to explain why it wasn’t there. “I’m not the type of guy who’s gonna bet on a three-legged horse with broken ankles that’s not me. But I know you are the standup guy, so I did sign it.”

Disney indeed announced that Kimmel would return to air a day before it happened on Wednesday. Kimmel was suspended on Sept. 17 over comments he made on air two days prior about the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, a right-wing media personality who was killed at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. After already addressing the “horrible and monstrous” killing on social media the day it happened, Kimmel said during his Sept. 15 monologue that “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.”

“In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving,” he added, before showing a clip of Trump being asked by a reporter how he was doing amid Kirk’s death (Trump said “very good” before changing the subject to the construction of the new ballroom at the White House).

“Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief: construction,” Kimmel joked.

Kimmel, however, spoke out on social media beforehand, offering his condolences to Kirk’s family. “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.”

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Since his comments and suspension, Disney revealed he’d be brought back after “thoughtful conversations with Jimmy,” while Sinclair and Nexstar — which own dozens of ABC-affiliated stations — both revealed they would continue preempting the show in their local markets.

Nexstar previously announced plans to acquire Tegna, a rival broadcast company, for more than $6 billion in a deal would consolidate the local television landscape and put Nexstar in 80% of America’s TV-owning households. The move required final approval from the Donald Trump-controlled and Brendan Carr-run Federal Communications Commission. Carr previously commended Nexstar for pressuring ABC to pull Kimmel’s show off the air amid the ordeal.