Jimmy Kimmel fires back in his return to ABC, followed by new threats from Trump

If conservatives were hoping for an apology from Jimmy Kimmel, they were likely disappointed by Tuesday night’s show.

Kimmel was welcomed back to the stage of Jimmy Kimmel Live! with boisterous applause and “Jimmy!” chants following a temporary suspension forced in part by threats from the Trump administration.

“Our government cannot be allowed to control what we do and do not say on television,” Kimmel said.

An emotional Kimmel choked up discussing the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and clarified that the remarks he made in a monologue last week were not intended to blame any group for the actions of “a deeply disturbed individual.”

“It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” Kimmel said, his voice cracking. “I don’t think there was anything funny about it.”

But it was his intention Tuesday night to go after both the Trump administration and Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. It was Carr’s thinly veiled threat against Kimmel that led to two companies that own numerous local TV stations — Nexstar and Sinclair — preempting the show on their ABC affiliates.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said on a conservative podcast last week.

Kimmel said he disagreed with ABC’s decision to pull him off the air, but praised executives at the network and at parent company Disney for reversing course and defending his right to “poke fun at our leaders.”

“This show is not important,” Kimmel said. “What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”

Both Nexstar and Sinclair kept Kimmel’s return off their local stations Tuesday night, affecting viewers in Washington, St. Louis, and Seattle, where Kimmel began his entertainment career began as a radio host. In Pennsylvania, over 1 million households were unable to tune in due to Nexstar and Sinclair’s blackout.

“That’s not legal. That’s not American. That is un-American,” Kimmel said. “Should the government be allowed to regulate which podcasts the cell phone companies and Wi-Fi providers are allowed to let you download to make sure they serve the public interest?”

As if on cue, while Kimmel was taping his show, President Donald Trump issued a new threat on social media, suggesting his government could go after ABC for an unspecified “major illegal” campaign contribution.

“I think we’re going to test ABC out on this,” Trump wrote.

The big question following Kimmel’s return was whether Nexstar and Sinclair would allow Jimmy Kimmel Live! to air in their local markets moving forward.

The two companies own 60 local ABC affiliates, which reach more than 20% of the country. In Pennsylvania, Kimmel’s show did not air in Erie or Harrisburg, or throughout the central part of the state.

Nexstar needs government approval to complete a $6.2 billion purchase of Tegna, which owns 51 local stations across the country, including 13 ABC affiliates.

Nexstar released a statement Wednesday saying it would continue to preempt Kimmel’s show. “We are engaged in productive discussions with executives at The Walt Disney Company, with a focus on ensuring the program reflects and respects the diverse interests of the communities we serve,” the statement read.

While both companies can preempt Kimmel in the short term, they could face legal issues if their blackouts continue indefinitely.

“A network affiliate like Sinclair can preempt a network show a limited number of times,” longtime media reporter Paul Farhi wrote on social media, ”but then is in breach of its affiliate agreement and faces penalties or cancellation."

That suggests both Nexstar and Sinclair are on a short leash, though Carr is still sending signals they should continue their blackout of Kimmel and “exercise their lawful right to preempt programming.”

“We need to keep empowering local TV stations to serve their communities of license,” Carr wrote on social media Tuesday.