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People tuned in to see what Jimmy Kimmel had to say in his first show back. Last week, Kimmel was suspended over his comments about Charlie Kirk’s killer and mocking Trump over his reaction to Kirk’s death.
“The MAGA 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.”
“In between the finger-pointing, there was, uh, grieving on Friday − the White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this.”
“Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief: construction. Demolition, construction. This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend; this is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish, OK? And it didn’t just happen once.”
On Tuesday, Kimmel returned to the air following a brief suspension to address his previous comments.
“It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.”
“I don’t think there’s anything funny about it,” he said. “I posted a message on Instagram on the day he was killed, sending love to his family and asking for compassion, and I meant it. And I still do. Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions — it was a deeply disturbed individual.”
Kimmel also blasted Trump for trying to get him cancelled.
“He tried his best to cancel me. Instead he forced millions of people to watch the show. That backfired bigly. He might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this now.”
“The President 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…”
Initial ratings for Kimmel’s return have been massive. According to CNN, Kimmel averaged 6.3 million viewers, much higher than the 1.6 million viewers he usually receives.
Via CNN
CNN: The ratings are in for the first day. 6.26 million viewers on ABC. That was four times Jimmy Kimmel’s average. And that’s despite the show not even being available in a quarter of all American homes. pic.twitter.com/CkT486mAwg
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 24, 2025
The first new episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” since his suspension averaged 6.3 million viewers via traditional television, more than three times the show’s typical TV viewership, even though the show was blacked out in dozens of markets.
In the key advertiser-friendly demographic of viewers ages 18 to 49, the show scored its “highest regularly scheduled episode in over 10 years,” ABC said Wednesday afternoon.