Jimmy Kimmel Tears Up During First Monologue After Return From Suspension: “Never My Intention To Make Light Of The Murder Of A Young Man”

Trying to clear things up?

Jimmy Kimmel made his return to late night television, a week after production of Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended by ABC following controversial comments Kimmel made in the wake of the assassination of conservative media personality Charlie Kirk.

During his show last Monday, Kimmel seemed to imply without evidence that the shooter was right-wing or “MAGA.”

“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.”

Now, from everything we know about the shooter, who has been identified as 22-year old Tyler Robinson, he was left-leaning and had made comments calling Kirk “full of hate.” He was also reportedly in a relationship with his transgender roommate, so he doesn’t exactly sound like your typical Trump supporter.

But you know how it goes when these things happen: Everybody rushes to try to accuse the shooter of being on the other side, regardless of what the evidence actually shows, which seems to be exactly what Kimmel did.

Well his comments not only landed Kimmel criticism online, but they also caught the attention of FCC chair Brendan Carr, who called Kimmel’s comments “truly sick” and said there was a “strong case” for action against ABC and parent company, Disney.

“This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.

They have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest.”

Well it didn’t take long for companies to take action. Nexstar Media Group, the largest television station owner in the country (which also happens to be seeking government approval for a merger with another broadcast company, Tegna) announced on Wednesday that their ABC affiliates would be pulling Kimmel from its lineup.

And Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest owner of ABC affiliates in the country, also announced that they would be pulling Kimmel’s show indefinitely from their stations. The company said they would not lift Kimmel’s suspension “until formal discussions are held with ABC regarding the network’s commitment to professionalism and accountability,” while urging the host to issue a public apology to the Kirk family and make a donation to Turning Point USA.

The consequences for Kimmel ignited a firestorm and caused plenty of debate over free speech and government censorship, but ABC announced earlier yesterday that the show would be returning to the airwaves tonight.

In a statement, the Walt Disney Company said that Kimmel’s comments were “ill-timed” and “insensitive,” but that after discussing with Kimmel, the show would be returning to air following what amounted to a four day suspension.

“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. 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.”

Of course all eyes where on how Kimmel would handle the situation during his monologue, and whether he would issue an apology for his comments on Kirk. And while the host stopped short of offering an apology, he did attempt to clarify that it was never his intention to make fun of Kirk’s assassination:

“I don’t think what I have to say is going to make much of a difference. If you like me, you like me, if you don’t you don’t. I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind. But I do have 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’s 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.

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.”

Of course there are a lot of people who weren’t able to watch the show live when it aired. Sinclair, which owns 39 ABC affiliates across the country, announced yesterday that they would not air Kimmel’s show when it returned tonight, and would instead preempt the broadcast with news content:

“Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming. Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return.”

And this morning, Nexstar announced that they would follow suit:

“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.

In the meantime, we note that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be available nationwide on multiple Disney-owned streaming products, while our stations will focus on continuing to produce local news and other programming relevant to their respective markets.”

Nexstar owns 32 ABC affiliates, and together with Sinclair the two companies make up about a quarter of ABC’s reach across the country. It’s unclear when, or if, they will return Kimmel to their stations.The post Jimmy Kimmel Tears Up During First Monologue After Return From Suspension: “Never My Intention To Make Light Of The Murder Of A Young Man” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.