By Faye James

Copyright hellomagazine

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos made a rare political comment on Wednesday’s episode of their talk show after late-night host Jimmy Kimmel returned to the air following a week-long ban. Jimmy’s show was put on pause on September 17 after he commented on the death of Charlie Kirk, a conservative political podcaster who was shot and killed at a speaking event in Utah. He returned on Tuesday night following an uproar from both sides of the political coin, bolstered by the support of his peers and friends.

Mark opened the conversation by praising Jimmy’s character, sharing that he was “one of the kindest, most generous people that I know. Cares about his family, takes care of his crew, his staff, everybody. He really, really cares.” He continued: “His statements last night, I think, were on point. He understands both sides; he was very humble in his speech.” Kelly agreed with him, saying that Jimmy’s monologue was “very responsible”.

“One thing we can all agree on as a country is that the First Amendment is very important,” Mark declared. “We do a light show here. We don’t talk about any politics here; we just don’t do it. We know that our fans at home want an escape from all of that, and we agree – we want an escape from all of that!”

“But I think it’s important, too, that we all are free,” he added. “Because you never know – we can say something crazy and tomorrow we’re gone.” Kelly chimed in that she said “crazy thing all the time here”, as Mark acknowledged their show’s connection with Disney, which owns ABC and thus Jimmy’s show.

Kelly followed her husband and co-host’s comments by reiterating that even though their show was not political, it was important to speak out in support of free speech. “I have to tell you, and we can all agree here, even though we are a light, frothy…we are non-controversial,” she said.

“We are like melted ice cream. But even we are constantly in a position where we are checking what we’re about to say in our heads because we’ve come to this inflection point where no matter what you say, somebody is upset.” She concluded the segment by emphasizing that “everybody’s welcome at our table”.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! was taken off the air after he commented that the far-right movement was trying to pin the blame of Charlie Kirk’s death onto the political left, despite the alleged shooter being raised in a conservative family. “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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,” he said.

The star clarified his comments on Tuesday’s episode, sharing that he never intended to “make light of the murder of a young man” or “to blame any specific group for the actions of a specific individual.” He also thanked conservative voices like Candace Owens and Ben Shapiro for standing up for him despite disagreeing with his politics.

“It takes courage to speak out against this administration, and they did, and they deserve credit for it and thanks,” he explained. “For telling their followers that our government cannot control what we do and do not say on TV.”