Jimmy Kimmel Did Not Hold Back In His First Monologue Back On Air, So Here’s Absolutely Every Brutal Dig He Made At Trump
“He 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.”
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A week after his show was put on indefinite pause, Jimmy Kimmel is officially back!
On Tuesday night, Jimmy Kimmel Live! began airing again in almost all US states after it was momentarily pulled following comments made by Jimmy during a monologue about Charlie Kirk’s shooting.
The outspoken right-wing activist was fatally shot during an event in Utah earlier this month. The suspected shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, has since been charged with aggravated murder and six other crimes.
“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,” said the talk show host. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
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Jimmy Kimmel Live! being booted sparked a heap of concern about the future of the First Amendment, with several people boycotting Disney — aka the parent company of ABC, which airs the show — in a bid to show their support.
In a statement announcing the return of the show, Disney said earlier this week, “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.”
And indeed, Jimmy returned to the stage last night, receiving a standing ovation from the audience as they chanted his name.
As the cheers eventually died down, Jimmy quipped, “Anyway, as I was saying before I was interrupted… If you’re just joining us, we are preempting your regularly scheduled encore episode of Celebrity Family Feud to bring you this special report. I’m happy to be here tonight with you.”
“I’m not sure who had a weirder 48 hours — me, or the CEO of Tylenol,” he joked, referring to President Donald Trump’s recent unfounded claims that there are ties between Tylenol, vaccines, and autism.
Jimmy continued, “It’s been overwhelming. I’ve heard from a lot of people over the last six days — I’ve heard from all the people in the world over the last six days! Everyone I have ever met has reached out 10 or 11 times…The guy who fired me from my first radio job in Seattle — where we are not airing tonight, by the way. Sorry, Seattle.”
Jimmy went on to thank everyone who “checked in” on him over the past week, specifically giving shoutouts to his “fellow Late Night talk show hosts,” including Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, and more.
“I heard from Late Night hosts in other countries, from Ireland and from Germany. The guy in Germany offered me a job. Can you imagine? This country has become so authoritarian, the Germans are like, ‘Come here!’” he quipped.
As well as shouting out those who supported his show, Jimmy name-dropped several public figures who might not be his biggest fans, but support his right to share his beliefs regardless, including people like Candace Owens and Ben Shapiro.
Speaking of the government’s attempt to silence him, Jimmy reminded people, “This affects all of us,” before later praising those who let their followers know that the government “cannot be allowed to control what we do and do not say on television.”
Later on in his monologue, Jimmy choked up as he addressed his past comments on Charlie Kirk’s shooting. “It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” he said, fighting back tears. “I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”
He later added, “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 the finger, I get why you’re upset. If the situation was reversed, there’s a good chance I’d have felt the same way.”
“I don’t think the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk represents anyone. This was a sick person who believed violence was a solution. And it isn’t. Ever,” he said.
Going on to discuss the importance of free speech, Jimmy admitted that he took for granted his right to openly poke fun at people in positions of power until Stephen Colbert’s show was canceled back in July. “That’s not legal, that’s not American. That is un-American, and it’s so dangerous,” he said.
Pointedly, Jimmy highlighted Trump’s previous stance on free speech, playing a clip from 2022 in which the president called it the “most fundamental right.” Trump said in the footage, “If we don’t have free speech, then we just don’t have a free country. It’s as simple as that.”
Jimmy then played a recent clip of Trump addressing his show’s cancelation and claiming that he got “no ratings.” In response to this, Jimmy smiled and said, “I do tonight!” prompting another standing ovation from the audience.
Going on to make a dig at Trump, Jimmy said, “You almost have to feel sorry for him. He 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.”
He then quipped, “I know a lot of people have been asking me if there are conditions for my return to the air, and there is one. Disney has asked me to read the following statement, and I have 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.’”
While Jimmy heaped praise onto ABC for long defending his right “to poke fun at our leaders” and to “advocate for subjects” important to him, he did acknowledge how unhappy he was when they pulled his show. “I was not happy when they pulled me off the air. I did not agree with that decision, and I told them that, and we had many conversations. I shared my point of view. They shared theirs,” he said before adding, “We talked it through and at the end, even though they didn’t have to…They welcomed me back on the air, and I thank them for that.”
Suggesting that Disney might be at “risk” for their decision to continue platforming him, Jimmy went on to slam Trump for calling for his staffers to be fired. “Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke,” he said before encouraging his viewers to fight “10 times harder” if Trump continues attempting to cancel other talk shows.
“It’s not just comedy. He’s gunning for our journalists, too. He’s suing them. He’s bullying them,” he said, later adding, “They want to pick and choose what the news is.”
Finally, Jimmy got emotional again as he addressed the moment Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, forgave his shooter over the weekend. “On Sunday, Erika Kirk forgave the man who shot her husband. She forgave him. That is an example we should follow,” he said.
“If you believe in the teachings of Jesus as I do, there it was. That’s it. A selfless act of grace, forgiveness from a grieving widow. It touched me deeply. And I hope it touches many. And if there’s anything we should take from this tragedy to carry forward, I hope it can be that,” he added.
Well, there we have it! You can watch Jimmy’s monologue for yourself right here, and be sure to let us know what you think in the comments.