Jimmy Kimmel returned to late-night television Tuesday after a nearly weeklong suspension and nearly broke down in tears, saying he wasn’t trying to joke about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.”I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make something clear, because it’s important to me as a human and that is, you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” Kimmel said, his voice breaking. “I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”Kimmel added: “Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what it was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make.” He said he understood his remarks last week to some “felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both.”Kimmel also criticized the ABC affiliates who took his show off the air. He thanked the people who supported him, and even people who doesn’t like him who stood up for his right to speak, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. “It takes courage for them to speak out against this administration. They did, and they deserve credit for it.”ABC, which suspended Kimmel’s show last Wednesday following criticism of his comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, announced Monday that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would return after the network had “thoughtful conversations” with the host. ABC suspended Kimmel indefinitely after comments he made about Kirk, who was killed Sept. 10, in a monologue. Kimmel said “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk” and that “the MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr last week said it appeared that Kimmel was trying to “directly mislead the American public” with his remarks about Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old Utah man charged with Kirk’s killing, and his motives. Those motives remain unclear. Authorities say Robinson grew up in a conservative family, but his mother told investigators his son had turned left politically in the last year. ___Associated Press journalists Maria Sherman and Hillel Italie in New York, Alicia Rancilio in Detroit and Liam McEwan in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Jimmy Kimmel returned to late-night television Tuesday after a nearly weeklong suspension and nearly broke down in tears, saying he wasn’t trying to joke about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make something clear, because it’s important to me as a human and that is, you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” Kimmel said, his voice breaking. “I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”
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Kimmel added: “Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what it was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make.” He said he understood his remarks last week to some “felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both.”
Kimmel also criticized the ABC affiliates who took his show off the air. He thanked the people who supported him, and even people who doesn’t like him who stood up for his right to speak, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. “It takes courage for them to speak out against this administration. They did, and they deserve credit for it.”
ABC, which suspended Kimmel’s show last Wednesday following criticism of his comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, announced Monday that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would return after the network had “thoughtful conversations” with the host.
ABC suspended Kimmel indefinitely after comments he made about Kirk, who was killed Sept. 10, in a monologue. Kimmel said “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk” and that “the MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”
Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr last week said it appeared that Kimmel was trying to “directly mislead the American public” with his remarks about Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old Utah man charged with Kirk’s killing, and his motives. Those motives remain unclear. Authorities say Robinson grew up in a conservative family, but his mother told investigators his son had turned left politically in the last year.
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Associated Press journalists Maria Sherman and Hillel Italie in New York, Alicia Rancilio in Detroit and Liam McEwan in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
