'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' returns after ABC suspension: Highlights, audience reaction and more

It seemed like an impossible task, but on Tuesday Kimmel delivered a monologue that served his audience and talked straight about his bosses at Disney and ABC while holding the government’s feet to the fire over incursions on free speech.

Here’s how he did it.

• He spoke from his heart and reached out directly to people who may have been hurt by his comments about Charlie Kirk. “It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” Kimmel said, his voice breaking as he spoke about the killing of the conservative commentator. “Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group. For those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset.”
• He balanced his show’s signature humor — first appearing on screen dressed as a bear beside his sidekick Guillermo dressed as a banana— with remarks that addressed the seriousness of the controversy that has engulfed Disney and ABC for the past week. “This show is not important,” he said. “What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”
• He directly tackled the tensions with his bosses at Disney, admitting that he was "not happy when they pulled me off the air on Wednesday. I did not agree with that decision, and I told them that.” But he also showed that he understands what the company is up against, noting that in welcoming him back. “Unfortunately and I think unjustly, this puts them at risk," he said. He acknowledged that, “We’re suddenly not being broadcast in 20% of the country.”
• He avoided delivering a partisan screed, instead thanking some of the surprising allies who have spoken out against his suspension, including right-wing figures like Ben Shapiro, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and “those in the middle, like Joe Rogan.” “Maybe the silver lining from this is we found one thing we can agree on,” Kimmel said. “Let’s stop letting these politicians tell us what they want and tell them what we want.”
• He made us laugh. At the end of the day, Kimmel’s is a comedy show, and he delivered self-aware satire in a moment of seriousness, playing a clip of Trump mocking his low ratings. “He had no ratings,” Trump said,” in the clip. “I do tonight,” Kimmel responded.

Kimmel joked that sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez called him when the show was pulled and "offered to sell his Labubus."

Rodriguez said the world "needs more people like Jimmy Kimmel."

"He's a great man, a great father," he said. "Thank you, Jimmy. I love you, and I stand with you all the way."

The two then hugged.

In Los Angeles, a group of top comedians will gather for a big party at Laugh Factory Hollywood tonight at 11 to salute Kimmel.

The Stonewall Inn in New York posted on Threads that it was holding a viewing party tonight, as well.

Tonight's episode of the ABC late night show currently appears to be on YouTube, at least partially.

The show's monologue was made available online, in addition to Robert De Niro's appearance. By 10 p.m. PT, the clip on the show's official YouTube page was inching toward 1 million views.

Kimmel referred to the fact that not everyone will be able to watch him tonight. He did not mention Nexstar and Sinclair, two major local TV operators, by name. But the two companies have said they will continue to not air his show.

"We are still on the air in most of the country," he said, "except ironically for Washington, D.C., where we have been pre-empted. We are off the air in Nashville, New Orleans, Portland, Oregon, Salt Lake City and St. Louis, where none of my wife's family is able to watch the show tonight. So sorry, Aunt Sharon, sorry, Aunt Marie, you'll have to go to YouTube."

You heard it from Robert De Niro first: "Speech ... it ain't free no more."

The Oscar-winning actor joined Kimmel in a video call tonight, during which he pretended he was the "new FCC chairman."

“Pardon me for saying, and maybe you’re the wrong guy to talk to, but it seems like the FCC is using mob tactics to suppress free speech,” Kimmel told De Niro.

De Niro responded with a profanity-laced rant. Regarding free speech, he told Kimmel: "Depends on what you want to say. Like if you want to say something nice about the president’s beautiful, thick, yellow hair or how he can do his makeup better than any broad, that’s free. But if you want to do a joke like he’s so fat he needs two seats on the Epstein jet, that’s gonna cost you.”

Kimmel spent some of his monologue thanking his colleagues and friends in the comedy world for their support, including the late-night hosts who share the airwaves with him.

He specifically called out Stephen Colbert (who Kimmel said also "found himself in this predicament" at CBS), Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, James Corden and others.

A grateful Kimmel said that for 23 years, ABC (and later also Disney, its parent company) have allowed him to "evolve and to stretch the boundaries of what was once traditional for a late-night talk show, even when it made them uncomfortable."

In the past, he said, the network has "defended" his "right to poke fun at our leaders and to advocate for subjects that I think are important by allowing me to use their platform, and I am very grateful for that."

However, he said, he was not pleased when he was pulled off the air last week.

"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. "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 also thanked his supporters, as well as those who aren't his fans but supported him anyway. “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," he said.

Kimmel praised Charlie Kirk's widow Erika Kirk for forgiving her late husband's alleged shooter, calling it an an act of grace that others could learn from.

“She forgave him," Kimmel said, emotion in his voice. "That is an example we should follow."

“If you believe in the teachings of Jesus, as I do, there it was. That, that’s it,” he added. “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.”

Kimmel thanked Disney for welcoming him back on the air and said the decision “unjustly puts them at risk.”

“The president of the United States made it very clear he wants to see me and the hundreds of people who work here fired from our jobs. Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke,” Kimmel said.

“He was able to squeeze Colbert out of CBS, then he turned his sights on me, and now he’s openly rooting for NBC to fire Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers and the hundreds of Americans who work for their shows who don’t make millions of dollars," he added. "And I hope that if that happens, or if there’s even any hint of that happening, you will be 10 times as loud as you were this week.”

Kimmel also emphasized the importance of a “free press,” saying it’s “nuts that we aren’t paying attention” to how the administration is also attempting to control what news is reported.