Late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel opened his show with a clip of Fox News host Jesse Watters saying, “Breaking news on Jimmy Kimmel and autism.”
This was followed by a montage of media reports discussing his return to late-night hosting duties. A number of the reports categorized his return as a crucial moment, with some even adding the qualifier, “in our nation’s history.”
“We’re in for a monologue that will be a marker in late-night show history,” said one clip. “It’s going to be a moment,” said Terry Moran, former cohost of ABC News’ Nightline, while speaking on a panel on CNN. Another panelist agreed with him, saying it would be “a huge moment in American history.”
“He will deliver what is being dubbed the most anticipated monologue in late-night in years,” said a journalist from ABC 7, a Los Angeles ABC affiliate. It then cuts to Kimmel and his sidekick, Guillermo Rodriguez, who are seen sitting in two chairs, with Kimmel wearing an animal costume and his cohost wearing a banana costume.
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“Maybe we should…” Kimmel starts to ask.
“Change?” Rodriguez responded.
“Yeah,” Kimmel replied.
And this is how the much-anticipated the comedian’s return to Jimmy Kimmel Live! began.
When the monologue started, Kimmel walked out to a standing ovation from his live audience.
The crowd then started chanting “Jimmy! Jimmy! Jimmy!”
“Anyway, as I was saying before I was interrupted,” Kimmel started his monologue.
“If you’re just joining us, we are preempting your regularly scheduled encore episode of “Celebrity Family Feud” to bring you this special report,” Kimmel quipped. “I’m happy to be here tonight with you. I’m not sure who had a weirder 48 hours, me or the CEO of Tylenol.”
He then thanked everyone for their support. He specifically thanked other late-night talk show hosts, from past and present, including Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brien, James Corden, Arsenio Hall, Jay Leno, among many others. Kimmel then claimed talk show hosts from around the world also offered their support, including one instance in which a talk show host from Germany apparently offered him a job. He then took his first jab at President Donald Trump.
“Can you imagine, this country has become so authoritarian that Germans are like, ‘come here,’” Kimmel said.
Kimmel then thanked his supporters and his fans. He also thanked those who weren’t his fans but supported his right to do his show.
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“I also want to thank all of you,” Kimmel said. “You supported our show and cared enough to do something about it and make your voices heard so that mine can be heard. I will never forget it. And maybe, 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.”
“Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Candace Owens, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, even my old pal Ted Cruz, who, believe it or not, said something very beautiful on my behalf,” Kimmel said. The talk show host and senator previously engaged in a war of words. In 2018, the two played in a one-on-one basketball game against each other, known as the “Blobfish Basketball Classic.” Cruz won the game.
Kimmel then showed an audio clip of Cruz’s comments about him, including a part where Cruz said he hated what Kimmel said and was thrilled that he was fired.
“No, wait, not that,” Kimmel said jokingly, before sharing a clip of Cruz’s supportive words.
“I don’t think I ever said this before, but Ted Cruz is right,” Kimmel added.
“Even though I don’t agree with many of those people on most subjects, some of the things they say even make me want to throw up, it takes courage for them to speak out against this administration. And they did, and they deserve credit for it,” Kimmel said.
Then, nearly seven minutes into his monologue, Kimmel addressed his controversial comments. He offered a clarification of the joke that led to his suspension. He did not apologize but was conciliatory in his tone. He brought up Charlie Kirk’s murder before getting teary-eyed when speaking about it.
“I do want to make something clear because it’s important to me as a human,” Kimmel said. “And that is, 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. 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 of what it was obviously a deeply disturbed individual,” Kimmel added. “That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make. But I understand that to some, that felt either ill-timed or unclear, or maybe both. And for those that think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset. If the situation was reversed, there’s a good chance I’d have felt the same way.”
He then proceeded to express how grateful he was to live in a country that has freedom of speech and allows him to say what he does on his show. He said it was a right he took for granted until they pulled my friend Stephen off the air, and “tried to coerce the affiliates, who run our show in the cities that you live in, to take my show off the air.”
“That’s not legal, that’s not American, that is un-American,” Kimmel said. “And it is so dangerous.”