Jimmy Kimmel made an emotional return to Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday, September 23, and Hollywood is weighing in. The late-night host came back to ABC just six days after his show was suspended indefinitely — and stars around the world quickly took to social media to react.
The 57-year-old comedian opened his first episode back by thanking viewers, fellow late-night hosts, allies, and even critics for their support. Kimmel’s show was temporarily pre-empted on September 17 following right-wing backlash over his remarks about the suspect in the killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
“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,” Kimmel joked during his opening monologue. “It’s been overwhelming. I’ve heard from a lot of people over the last six days. Everyone I have ever known has reached out 10 or 11 times. Characters from my past, the guy who fired me from my first radio job in Seattle — where we are not airing tonight, by the way — his name is Larry.”
The monologue turned heartfelt as Kimmel addressed the suspension. “You understand it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” he said, referring to Kirk. “I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”
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He continued, putting the moment in perspective: “Our show is not important. What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.” Instead of delivering a partisan rant, Kimmel thanked unexpected allies who spoke out in his defense, including right-wing figures such as Ben Shapiro, Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Rand Paul, Candace Owens and those “in the middle, like Joe Rogan.”
“Maybe the silver lining from this is we found one thing we can agree on,” Kimmel added. “Let’s stop letting these politicians tell us what they want and tell them what we want.”
“You supported our show, cared enough to do something about it, to make your voices heard so that mine could be heard and I will never forget it,” he added, singling out Shapiro and Owens as people whose support he “never imagined” he would receive.
Celebrities joined fans in reacting to his return, including Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston, and countless others. Scroll through our gallery below to see the stars react to Kimmel’s return.
