JIMMY KIMMEL HAS made his return to late-night television in the US after broadcasters facing pressure from US government regulators abruptly pulled it off the air last week.

He tearfully remarked that it was “never my intention to make light of the murder” of Charlie Kirk.

Kimmel also entered the studio to prolonged applause and joked: “Anyway… as I was saying before I was interrupted.”

Jimmy Kimmel returns to a standing ovation and chants of “Jimmy! Jimmy! Jimmy!”

He opens with a grin and the line: “Anyway… as I was saying before I was interrupted.”

The crowd roared. The message? He’s not backing down. pic.twitter.com/bysBp65w05

— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) September 24, 2025

He added that he is “not sure who had a weirder 48 hours, me or the CEO of Tylenol”, after Trump made a claim, for which there is no evidence, that Tylenol (which is a brand name for paracetamol) usage in mothers causes autism in children.

The show was suspended by Disney last week after Kimmel made a comment regarding the shooting of Kirk on air on 15 September.

In a statement issued by the company on 17 September, Disney said it “made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country”.

Disney added that it “felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive”.

On 15 September, Kimmel had covered a few topical issues in his opening monologue before turning to the death of Kirk. 

He said: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

Footage then played of US President Donald Trump being asked by a reporter how he was holding up after the death of Kirk, an ally of his. Trump deflected and spoke about the construction of the White House’s ballroom.

Project 2025 is in full effect! First, they canceled Stephen Colbert, and now they're doing the same thing to Jimmy Kimmel over his comments about Charlie Kirk! We've seen this kind of activity before, during the McCarthy era and in Nazi Germany! America is becoming more and more… pic.twitter.com/J9Y3beFJSL

— Damaan, AKA 'Philly's Finest!' (@Damaan4u33) September 18, 2025

Kimmel joked that Trump’s response was more akin to how a child grieves for a goldfish than an adult friend.

On Monday, Disney announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live would return on Wednesday.

Disney’s decision to U-turn on the cancellation of the show came after outraged reactions from many members of the public and some of the US entertainment industry’s biggest stars.

Speaking on his late-night return, Kimmel thanked all the late night hosts around the world who had reached out, including Patrick Kielty.

He also thanked figures on the right who supported his right to free speech, such as Ben Shapiro, Candace Owens, and Ted Cruz.

“Even though I don’t agree with many of those people on most subjects – some of the things they say even make me want to throw up – it takes courage for them to speak out against this administration and they did, and they deserve credit for it.”

Kimmel then said: “I’ve been hearing a lot about what I need to say and do tonight.

“And the truth is, I don’t think what I have to say is going to make much of a difference, if you like me, like me, if you don’t, you don’t.

“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.

“I don’t think there is anything funny about it. Nor was it my intention 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.

“But I understand that to some that felt either ill-timed or unclear, or maybe both.

“I get why you’re upset, if the situation was reversed, there’s a good chance I’d have felt the same way.

“I have many friends and family members on the other side who I love and remain close to, even though we don’t agree on politics at all.

“I don’t think the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk represents anyone.”

TV presenter Jimmy Kimmel appeared tearful in his returning speech, saying it was 'never my intention to make light of' Charlie Kirk's death.

The TV host was taken off-air after a row over comments he made about Charlie Kirk's murder.

Read more ➡️ https://t.co/b9sPdYSa58 pic.twitter.com/oysfR2MqHY

— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 24, 2025

Meanwhile, Kimmel remarked that while his show is “not important”, what is important is the freedom to live in a country that “allows a show like this”.

“I’ve had the opportunity to meet comedians and talk show hosts from countries like Russia, countries in the Middle East, who told me they would get thrown in prison for making fun of those in power, and worse than being thrown in prison.

“Our freedom to speak is what they admire most about this country, and that’s something I’m embarrassed to say I took for granted until they pulled my friend Stephen Colbert off the air.

“That’s not American, that is un American.

The cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s show was widely viewed as an attempt by Paramount to curry favour with Trump for business reasons.

Kimmel added: “A government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn’t like is anti-American, our government cannot be allowed to control what we do and do not say on television.”

However, the show didn’t return to all American households.

Two companies that own dozens of those affiliates – Nexstar and Sinclair – Monday its affiliates would not be broadcasting the show when it resumed.

The show remained off the air in several of the largest US TV markets because of the boycott.

Affected cities included Washington DC, New Orleans, Nashville and Seattle.

Ahead of Kimmel’s return, Trump insulted and accused broadcaster ABC of “playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE”.

“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,” Trump posted to his Truth Social.