Jimmy Kimmel Chokes Up as He Makes His Big Return to His Late-Night Show Following ABC's Controversial Suspension Over Charlie Kirk Comments

Jimmy Kimmel returned to fans' television screens on Tuesday night, September 23, for the first time since his late-night talk show was suspended by ABC.

The comedian emerged on his signature set of Jimmy Kimmel Live! six days after ABC announced they were abruptly pulling the series "indefinitely" due to backlash surrounding the TV host's Monday night, September 15, opening monologue — in which he mentioned the assassination of Charlie Kirk and poked fun at President Donald Trump.

“It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” Kimmel said as he got choked up.

"This show is not important," Kimmel stated. "What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this."

Kimmel said he was "not happy when they pulled me off the air on Wednesday" and that he did "not agree with that decision."

"I shared my point of view, they shared theirs. We talked it through, and at the end, even though they didn't have to — they really didn't have to, this is a giant company, we have short attention spans, and I am a tiny part of the Disney corporation — they welcomed me back on the air and I thank them for that," he continued. "It's been overwhelming...I've heard from all the people in the world over the last six days."

"Most of all, I want to thank the people who don't support my show and what I believe, but support my right to share those beliefs anyway," Kimmel noted. "I never would have imagined that Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, even my old pal Ted Cruz, who believe it or not said something very beautiful on my behalf. It takes courage for them to speak out against this administration. They did and they deserve credit for it."

Kimmel broke social media silence just hours before his highly anticipated return on Tuesday with a post honoring Norman Lear.

"Missing this guy today," Kimmel wrote alongside a photo of him and the late screenwriter and producer.

In the comments section of the post, several fans and friends of the funny man sent well wishes ahead of Jimmy Kimmel Live!''s return.

"Kill it tonight — feel all the love ❤️," Rosie O'Donnell expressed, as Marlene King declared: "Welcome back! ❤️."

Meanwhile, a fan admitted, "staying up late just to watch your welcome back show tonight Jimmy! Break a leg! We’re with you all the way!!! 💕," and another supporter said, "you're a good man Jimmy, will be watching tonight ❤️."

ABC announced the return of Jimmy Kimmel Live! one day prior in a statement shared with press.

"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," the Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC, explained.

The message continued: "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."

Controversy erupted after Kimmel cracked a joke about Trump's reaction to Kirk's murder while insinuating the right-wing political activist's suspected assassin, Tyler Robinson, was a MAGA fan.

(While Robinson grew up in a Republican family, the 22-year-old reportedly disagreed with Kirk's conservative views.)

"We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA [Make America Great Again] 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," Kimmel said during his opening monologue last Monday.

Kimmel then showed an interview where Trump responded to a reporter's question about how he was holding up after Kirk's assassination.

"I think very good," Trump replied before rambling about the White House's new ballroom construction.

In response to the clip, Kimmel quipped: "He's at the fourth stage of grief, construction. This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish."

Less than 48 hours later, Kimmel's gig was shut down by ABC and Nextstar "indefinitely," causing immense concerns across the country about a potential war on free speech.