Jimmy Kimmel Slams Donald Trump and FCC amid Return

Jimmy Kimmel set his sights on President Donald Trump, the Federal Communications Commission and the demands that they made about his show as Jimmy Kimmel Live! returned after a brief break.

The 57-year-old late-night host was back on TV screens on Tuesday, Sept. 23, delivering a lengthy monologue that addressed the support he received from viewers and critics alike in the wake of his show’s suspension last week.

Kimmel’s long-running show was “indefinitely” suspended at the time by Disney’s ABC due to comments that the host made on Sept. 15 about Charlie Kirk‘s Sept. 10 assassination, his suspected shooter, Tyler Robinson, and Trump’s “Make America Great Again” supporters.

In the aftermath, FCC chairman Brendan Carr appeared to make some threatening remarks while on Benny Johnson’s podcast on Sept. 17.

“Frankly, when you see stuff like this — I mean, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” he said after deeming Kimmel’s remarks “some of the sickest conduct possible.”

He continued, “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

Carr added that the FCC would consider “remedies” if Kimmel didn’t face consequences.

During his comeback monologue, Kimmel implied that Carr was violating the First Amendment’s right to free speech with the remarks as a government official. He described the interview as being “not a particularly intelligent threat to make in public.”

Kimmel pointed out that Carr had previously been a proponent of political satire as recently as 2022, when he agreed with former President Joe Biden‘s stance on the topic, writing that it is “one of the oldest and most important forms of free speech.”

“You know who wrote that?” Kimmel asked his audience on Tuesday. “FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who was later appointed chairman of the FCC by this former crusader for free speech.”

A screen behind the host aired a 2022 interview, in which Trump also emphasized the importance of free speech, saying that America would not be “a free country without it.”

Kimmel claimed that Senator Ted Cruz likened Carr to “a mafioso, [member of a mob or mafia]” However, he did not necessarily agree with the sentiment.

“If you want to hear a mob boss make a threat like that, you have to hide a microphone in a deli and park outside in a van with a tape recorder all night long,” the host said. “This genius said it on a podcast. Brendan Carr is the most embarrassing car Republicans have embraced since this one. And that’s saying something,” he said, referring to a Trump-themed Cybertruck.

Kimmel also addressed the question of whether there were “conditions” he had to meet to get back on the air.

“There is one,” he said as he took a piece of paper out of his suit. “Disney has asked me to read the following statement, and I’ve agreed to do it. Here we go. ‘To reactivate your Disney+ and Hulu account, open the Disney+ app on your smart TV or TV-connected device.’ ”

After Disney announced the show’s return on Monday, Sept. 22, broadcast and media companies Sinclair and Nexstar Media opted out of airing Jimmy Kimmel Live!

In a Wednesday, Sept. 17 statement on X Sinclair wrote that the suspension was “not enough.”

The company demanded that Kimmel “issue a direct apology to the Kirk family” and said that he needed to “make a meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA,” the right-wing organization that Kirk co-founded.

During his comeback monologue, Kimmel expressed remorse for his comments, noting that he had previously expressed support for Kirk’s family and adding that it was not his “intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what — it was obviously a deeply disturbed individual.”

“That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make. But I understand that to some, that felt either ill-timed or unclear, or maybe both. And for those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset. If the situation was reversed, there’s a good chance I’d have felt the same way,” he said.

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Trump bashed the decision to bring Jimmy Kimmel Live! back in a statement on Truth Social, saying that he believed the show was “cancelled.”

“Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE. He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution,” he wrote.

Trump added, “I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.”

Responding to Trump saying that he had “no ratings,” Kimmel quipped, “Well, I do tonight.”

“You almost have to feel sorry for him,” he said of the president. “He tried did his best to cancel me. Instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show. That backfired bigly. He might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this now.”