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Comedian Jimmy Kimmel hit out at Donald Trump’s “anti-American” threats to free speech as he returned to his late-night show, declaring that it was never his intention to “make light of the murder” of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
In his first show on Tuesday following a six-day suspension by broadcast network ABC, Kimmel said that he understood his remarks in a monologue last week “felt either ill-timed or unclear, or maybe both”, following Kirk’s assassination on a college campus in Utah this month.
But he also struck a defiant tone, saying that “a government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn’t like is anti-American”.
ABC, which is owned by Disney and has hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live! for more than 20 years, suspended him “indefinitely” last week after the comedian accused Trump supporters of seeking to score political points from Kirk’s death.
In a social media post before the show, Trump expressed disbelief that ABC “gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back”, adding that “The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled!”
Trump accused Kimmel of being an “arm” of the Democratic party, claiming that Kimmel returning to the air would constitute a “major Illegal Campaign Contribution” to the Democrats.
He also made a veiled threat to sue ABC, alluding to the $16mn settlement ABC News paid to his presidential library over an interview with journalist George Stephanopoulos last year.
“This one sounds even more lucrative,” Trump wrote.
Kimmel had said on his show before his suspension that Trump’s backers were “desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them”.
The comments sparked intense criticism from Trump as well as the head of the Federal Communications Commission Brendan Carr, who called it a “serious issue” for Disney.
Bob Iger, Disney’s chief executive, also came under fire for Kimmel’s suspension amid a broader debate about the right to free speech in the US under Trump.
Kimmel said that he did not agree with the decision by Iger and Disney head of TV and streaming Dana Walden to suspend him.
“I was not happy when they pulled me off the air on Monday,” he said. “I did not agree with that decision and I told them that.”
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Kimmel, whose voice cracked several times, including when he spoke admiringly of Kirk’s widow Erika, said that by allowing him back on the air, Iger and Walden were putting also themselves “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,” he said. “Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke.”
Kimmel’s return was not shown on nearly 25 per cent of local ABC stations, since two broadcasting groups, Sinclair and Nexstar, said they would not air the programme.
Still, Kimmel clearly expected a bump in viewers on Tuesday. He played a recording of Trump saying his show had “no ratings”, to which the comedian replied: “I do tonight”.