Jimmy Kimmel is Back!
Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2025 6:44 amJimmy Kimmel is Back!
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Sep 23, 2025 #Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel returns to the air and talks about all of the people who have reached out over the last six days including fellow late night talk show hosts, fans of the show, and those who don’t support what he believes but support his right to share those beliefs anyway, and he expresses that it was never his intention to make light of the murder of a young man, how important it is to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this, the Chairman of the FCC Brendan Carr telling an American company that “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Trump saying he has no talent and no ratings, being fortunate to work at a company that has allowed us to do the show we want to do for almost 23 years, not agreeing with the decision to have our show pulled off the air last Wednesday, Trump making it very clear he wants to see Jimmy and other late night hosts fired, and solidarity from the right, left and those in the middle. Then Jimmy talks to the new FCC Chairman (Robert De Niro), and gets into Trump’s day addressing the United Nations, the escalator breaking, having trouble with the teleprompter, and the headache he’s creating with his buddy RFK over Tylenol.
Transcript
Breaking news on Jimmy Kimmel and
autism.
Jimmy Kimmel coming back to late night
television.
ABC chose to bring back their lowrating
nighttime host.
We are in for a monologue that will be a
marker in late night show history.
It's going to be a moment.
Yeah, no question. A huge moment in
American history.
It's one of the most pivotal moments in
broadcast history.
He will be delivering what is being
dubbed the most anticipated monologue in
late night in years.
Revolution change you
from Hollywood. It's Jimmy Kimmel L
tonight. Glenn Power and music from
Sarah McCluck with Cleo and the Cleones.
And now Jimmy Kimmel.
Thank you. Thank you.
Anyway, as I was saying before I was
interrupted.
If you're just joining us, we are
preempting your regularly scheduled
encore episode of Celebrity Family Feud
to bring you this special report. I'm
happy to be here tonight with you.
Please be seated.
I'm not sure who had a weirder 48 hours,
me or the CEO of Tylenol.
It's uh it's been overwhelming. I've
heard from a lot of people over the last
six days. I've heard from all the people
over in the world over the last six
days. Everyone I have ever met has
reached out 10 or 11 times. Weird
characters from my past are the guy who
fired me from my first radio job in
Seattle where we are not airing tonight
by the way. Sorry Seattle. His name is
Larry. In 1989, Larry tried to force me
to do a bit called jokes for donuts
where people would call in with a joke
and I would give them donuts. I refused
to do it and then I made a lot of fun of
Larry for suggesting it and eventually
Larry fired me and I had to move back in
with my parents. But even he wrote in to
cheer me up. Thank you, Larry. And I
want to thank everyone who checked in.
It would take all week to list all of
them, but
some that I do especially want to
mention are my fellow late night talk
show hosts, my friend Steven Colbear,
who's found himself in this predicament.
My friends John Stewart, Seth Myers,
Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, Conan
O'Brien, James Cordon, Arino, Kathy,
Wanda, Chelsea, even Jay reached out. I
heard from late night hosts in other
countries from Ireland and from Germany.
The guy in Germany offered me a job. Can
you imagine?
This country has become so
authoritarian. The Germans are like,
"Come here. Come loose."
My boyhood idols Howard Stern and David
Letterman were very considerate and
kind. And I feel honored to be part of a
group of people that knows what goes
into doing a show like this. And I also
want to thank all of you
thanks to
who supported our show, cared enough to
do something about it, to make your
voices heard so that mine could be
heard. I will never forget it. And maybe
weirdly,
maybe 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.
people who I never would have imagined
like Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Candace
Owens, Mitch McConnell, Ran Paul, even
my old pal Ted Cruz, who believe it or
not said something very beautiful on my
behalf. I hate what Jimmy Kimmel said. I
am thrilled that he was fired.
Oh, wait. No, not that. The the other
part. But let me tell you, if the
government gets in the business of
saying
can't say
what you, the media, have said, "We're
going to ban you from the airwaves if
you don't say what we like." That will
end up bad for conservatives.
I don't think I've ever said this
before, but Ted Cruz is right. He's
absolutely right. This affects
all of us, including him. I mean, think
about it. If Ted Cruz can't speak
freely, then he can't cast spells on the
Smurfs.
Even though I 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. And thanks um for telling your
followers
that our government
cannot be allowed to control what we do
and do not say on television and that we
have to stand up to it. I've been
hearing a lot about what I need to say
and do tonight. And the truth is I don't
think what I have to say is going to
make much of a difference. If you like
me, you like me. If you don't, you
don't. 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. I I don't
I don't think there's anything funny
about it. I I posted a message on
Instagram of the day he was killed
sending love to his family and asking
for compassion and I meant it and I
still do. uh 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. But I understand that to some
that felt either illtimed or unclear or
maybe both. And for those who think I
did uh 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. I have many friends and family
members on the other side who I love and
remain close to even though we don't
agree on politics at all. I don't think
the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk
represents anyone. This was a sick
person who believed violence was a
solution and it isn't it ever. And also
selfishly
I am
I am a person who gets a lot of threats.
I get many ugly and scary threats
against my life, my wife, my kids, my
co-workers because of what I choose to
say. And I know those threats don't come
from the kind of people on the right who
I know and love. So that's what I wanted
to say on that subject. But I don't want
to make this about me because and I know
this is what people say when they make
things about them, but I really don't.
This show,
this show is not important. What is
important is that we get to live in a
country that allows us to have a show
like this.
I meet I've had the opportunity to meet
and spend time with comedians and talk
show hosts from countries like Russia,
countries in the Middle East who tell me
they would get thrown in prison for
making fun of those in power. And worse
than being thrown in prison, they know
how lucky we are here. Our freedom to
speak is what they admire most about
this country. And that's something I'm
embarrassed to say I took for granted
until they pulled my friend Stephen off
the air and tried to coersse 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 unamerican and it
is so dangerous.
I want you to think about this.
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? You think that sounds
crazy?
10 years ago, this sounded crazy.
Brendan Carr, the chairman of the FCC,
telling an American company, "We can do
this the easy way or the hard way, and
that these companies can find ways to
change conduct and take action on Kimmel
or there's going to be additional work
for the FCC ahead." In addition to being
a direct violation of the First
Amendment, is not a particularly
intelligent threat to make in public.
Ted Cruz said he sounded like a mafioso.
Although, I don't know. If you want to
hear a mob boss make a threat like that,
you have to hide a microphone in a deli
and park outside in a van with a tape
recorder all night long. This genius
said it on a podcast. Brendan Carr is
the most embarrassing car Republicans
have embraced since this one. And that's
saying something.
The FCC
The FCC has a tradition of meddling
where they shouldn't under many
administrations, but it wasn't always
like this. There was an FCC commissioner
back in 2022 who worked under Joe Biden
who was spoton. He wrote, "President
Biden is right. Political satire is one
of the oldest and most important forms
of free speech. It challenges those in
power while using humor to draw more
people into the discussion. That's why
people in influential positions have
always targeted it for censorship. You
know who wrote that? FCC Commissioner
Brendan Carr,
who later was appointed chairman of the
FCC by this former crusader for free
speech.
If we don't have free speech, then we
just don't have a free country. It's as
simple as that. If this most fundamental
right is allowed to perish, then the
rest of our rights and liberties will
topple just like dominoes. One by one,
they'll go down. That was also in 2022.
And I wonder how did that guy turn into
this guy.
Who would you like to see replace Kimmel
on late night?
A lot of people, anybody could replace
him. Guy had no talent. Kimmel had,
look, he was fired. He had no talent.
He's a whack job, but he had no talent.
And more importantly the talent he had
no because a lot of people have no
talent they get ratings but he had no
ratings. Well,
I do tonight.
Thank you.
You almost
You almost have to feel sorry for him.
He tried did 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,
a lot of people have been asking me if
there are uh conditions for my return to
the air, and there is one. Disney has
asked me to read the following
statement, and uh I I've agreed to do
it. Uh here we go.
um to reactivate your Disney Plus and
Hulu account
open
the Disney Plus app on your smart TV or
TV connected device.
I've been um
fortunate to work at a company that has
allowed me to do the show the way we
want to do it for almost 23 years. I've
done almost 4,000 shows on ABC. And over
that time, the people who run this
network have allowed me to evolve and to
stretch the boundaries of what was once
traditional for a late night talk show,
even when it made them uncomfortable,
which I do a lot. Every night, they've
defended my right to poke fun at our
leaders and to advocate for subjects
that I think are important by allowing
me to use their platform. And I am very
grateful for that. With that said, I was
not happy when they pulled me off the
air on one. I did not agree with that
decision and I told them that and we had
many conversations. I shared my point of
view. They shared theirs. We talked it
through and at the end, even though they
didn't have to. They really didn't have
to. This is a giant company. We have
short attention spans and I am a tiny
part of the Disney Corporation. and they
welcomed me back on the air and I thank
them for that because I know
that that unfortunately
and I think unjustly this puts them 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. Our leader
celebrates Americans losing their
livelihoods because he can't take a
joke. He was
somehow
able to squeeze Cole Bear out of CBS.
Denny turned his sights on me and now
he's openly rooting for NBC to fire
Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers and the
hundreds of Americans who work for their
shows who don't make millions of
dollars. And I hope that if that happens
or if there's even any hint of that
happening, you will be 10 times as loud
as you were this week. We have to speak
out against this because
he's not stopping.
And it's not just comedy. He's gunning
for our journalists, too. He's suing
them. He's bullying them. Over the
weekend, his Foxy friend Pete Hgsth
announced a new policy that requires
journalists with Pentagon press
credentials to sign a pledge, promising
not to report information that hasn't
been explicitly authorized for release.
that includes unclassified information.
They want to pick and choose what the
news is. I know that's not as
interesting as musling a comedian, but
it's so important to have a free press,
and it is nuts that we aren't paying
more attention to it.
Walter Konite must be spinning in his
grave right now. He's dead, right?
Look, I never imagined I would be in a a
situation like this. I barely paid
attention in school. But one thing I did
learn from uh from Lenny Bruce and
George Carlin and Howard Stern is that a
government threat to silence a comedian
the president doesn't like is
anti-American. That's anti-American.
And I am so glad we have some solidarity
on that from the right and left and from
those in the middle like Joe Rogan.
Maybe the silver lining from this is we
found one thing we can agree on and
maybe we'll even find another one. Maybe
we can get a little bit closer together.
We do agree on a lot of things. We agree
on keeping our children safe from guns,
from on reproductive rights for women,
social security,
affordable health care, pediatric cancer
research. These are all things that most
Americans support. Let's stop letting
these politicians tell us what they want
and tell them what we want.
There was um
a moment over the weekend, a very
beautiful moment. I don't know if you
saw this on Sunday. Erica Kirk forgave
the man who shot her husband. She
forgave him. That is an example we
should follow.
If you believe
in the teachings of Jesus as I do, there
it was. That's that's it. A selfless act
of grace, forgiveness from a grieving
widow. It touched me deeply
and I hope it
It touches many and if there's anything
we should take from this tragedy to
carry forward, I hope it can be that uh
and not this. So, thank you for
listening and I'll have I'll have more
to say when we come back.
What about also those who say that
you're being in recent months awfully
thin skinned?
I've always been thin skinned. I've been
thin skinned from day one.
Welcome back to Jimmy Kimmel Live. We
are still on the air in most of the
country except ironically for Washington
DC where we have been preempted. We are
off the air in Nashville, New Orleans,
Portland, Oregon, Salt Lake City, and
St. Louis where none of my wife's family
is able to watch the show tonight. So,
sorry, Aunt Sharon. Sorry, Aunt Marine.
You'll have to go to YouTube, I guess.
But I am glad to be back at work. It was
touch and go for a minute. GMO did
something very sweet actually. He um
called me and he offered to sell his
laboos. I will never forget that
gesture, my friend. He's GMO.
I I've done a lot of talking. Is there
anything you would like to share with
the audience tonight?
Sure. I would like to say listen, this
world needs more people like Jimmy
Kimmel. He is the best.
He's a great man. a great father and
thank you Jimmy and I love you and I
stand with you all the way and I love
you.
That's very sweet.
If you stand with me all the way. Why
did Ryan Seress call me and tell me you
keep texting him over and over?
Never. Never. That was wrong Mexican.
Oh, I see.
Yeah. We were in the middle and in a lot
of ways still are in the middle of an
unprecedented fix. After almost 23 years
on the air, we're suddenly not being
broadcast in 20% of the country, which
is not a situation we relish. So, we
reached out to the chairman of the FCC,
Brendan Car. He has, to his credit,
agreed to join us from his office in
Washington, and here he is now. Thank
you, Chairman Carr, for being with us
tonight.
You tell Whoopi over there she better
show a little respect or the only view
she's getting is from under George
Washington the bridge not the guy.
Excuse me. Uh sir. Yeah. Hi. It's
Well, what is this? You sneak up on me.
You don't
You don't sneak up on a person. It's not
It's not nice. I'm I'm sorry. What is
your name? Cuz I was expecting to talk
to the chairman of the FCC.
You don't need to know my name. And And
I am the new chairman of the FCC.
You were appointed FCC chairman by
Donald Trump.
Sir Trump. Yes. I used to do this at
work with a man here and there in
Atlantic City.
But did I just hear you on the phone
threatening Whoopy Goldberg?
No. I would never threaten Miss
Goldstein. I was just teaching her a
lesson about consequences.
No, but pardon me for for saying so.
Maybe you're the wrong guy to talk to,
but it seems like the FCC is using mob
tactics to suppress free speech.
What did you just say to me?
I I I didn't mean any offensive. You
know, you can't curse or will get fined
by the FCC.
I am the FCC. I can say whatever the I
want. No. Uh, well, this does it sounds
a little like threats and intimidation
to me. Chairman,
stop that. It's Look, it's just me,
Jimmy. The chairman of the FCC gently
suggesting that you gently shut the up.
But you can't say that. That's a
violation of free speech.
Oh, yeah. About that speech. It ain't
free no more.
What? It's not free no more.
Yeah, we're charging by the word now.
You're charging by the word. How much
are you charging? It
depends on what you want to say. Like
you want to say something nice about the
president's beautiful thick yellow hair,
how he can do his makeup better than any
broad, that's free.
Okay. All right.
That seems reasonable.
But if you want to do a joke like he's
so fat he needs two seats on the Epstein
jet, that's
okay. Can I just ask just for clarity
because it's a pretty good joke. How
much would that one cost me?
Couple of fingers, maybe a tooth. And
you know how constipated he is?
So, is this how things are going to go
from now on?
We also got a new motto at the FCC.
Sticks and stones may break your bones.
And
well, the risk of that is but but I
think but words can never harm you.
Oh well well they can harm you now.
Let's make sure you pick the right
words. Capabish.
Yeah, I guess I I capiche, but I don't
think Oh, it sounds like you got a call
there, huh? Uh
hi, handsome.
Oh, I mean I'm sorry, Mr. Mr. President.
You okay? Okay. You You got it, sir. You
got it. Bye.
What did you say?
Look, I I got to go. A couple of cases
of Tylenol fell off a truck and now I
got to figure out how to put autism in
them.
Oh, okay. All right. Well, that sounds
that sounds tricky. So, good good luck
with good luck with that, sir.
Good luck with you. And I'll be watching
you, Kimmel. Maybe not on ABC. That's up
to you.
Okay. Well, thank you so much for your
time. And it is my honor to serve the
public interest.
Yeah, I know it is. I know. I know it
is. Thank you so much.
I got to tell you,
I like the new guy a lot.
You know, as of this taping, the
president has not weighed in on ABC's
decision to put us back on the air. I
don't know, maybe he's saving it for his
late night toilet time, but his
magnificence had other business today in
New York. big business addressing the
United Nations, which got off to a rocky
start when the Trumps hit the escalator
and it suddenly stopped.
They had to walk up.
He broke the escalator. Where was that
escalator 10 years ago when we needed it
on the way down?
Trump had trouble with his teleprompter
today, but spoke anyway for almost an
hour off the cuff in front of all these
foreign leaders. And when you think
about uniting nations, no one does it
better than Don.
It's time to end the failed experiment
of open borders. You have to end it now.
See, I can tell you I'm really good at
this stuff. Your countries are going to
hell.
Well, if that doesn't get him the Nobel
Prize, I don't know what will. Melania
was uh she sat for the speech. She was
there not just in her capacity as first
lady but also as a representative for
all the unsatisfied Slovenian women of
the world. Ramble Stiltskin was all over
the map today. He ranted about
windmills. He bragged about ending seven
wars. He threatened the guy who operates
the teleprompter. He complained about
being screwed out of a deal to renovate
the building they were in, the United
Nations building. He said, "You could
have had marble. You got terrarazzo. You
could have had mahogany. You got plastic
instead. Five translators had to be
hospitalized for confusion. But none of
that compared to the headache he is
creating with his buddy RFK blaming
autism on Tylenol. His press conference
yesterday was an all-timer. Trump, Bobby
Brainworm, and Dr. Roz strongly
recommend that pregnant women stop
taking Tylenol immediately. And the
president was very persuasive making his
case.
When the alternative is that nothing bad
can happen, let's do it now. I was just
saying to Bobby and the group, let's do
it now. Nothing bad can happen. It can
only good happen. But with Tylenol,
don't take it. Don't take it. That's
right. Follow the advice of Donald Trump
and you too can look like a glazed ham
with deep vein thrombosis.
It can only happen.
This is
This is Tylenol. We're talking about the
thing that you take when they won't let
you take anything that works.
It's never They gave me Tylenol. It's
always They gave me all they gave me was
Tylenol.
But make no mistake, this was an
historic announcement. This was a major
breakthrough in the field of medicine.
And just in case it isn't clear, if
someone comes up and offers you a
Tylenol, you should not take it.
Don't take Tylenol. Don't take it with
Tylenol. Don't take it. Don't take it.
Don't use Tylenol. Don't take Tylenol.
Don't take Tylenol. Fight like hell not
to take it. I think you shouldn't take
it. Don't take Tylenol. The baby goes
gets a shot. They say, "Here, take a
drop of Tylenol." I've heard that for
years. Take Tylenol. Don't take Tylenol.
Don't have your baby take Tylenol. Don't
give Tylenol
to the baby. Don't give Tylenol to the
baby. Don't give your baby Tylenol.
Don't take Tylenol. Don't take Tylenol.
Don't take Tylenol. Don't take it. Don't
take it. So,
that's it. There's nothing much to say.
Don't take Tylenol. Just don't take it.
And uh I just say it again. Don't take
Tylenol. Don't take it.
Brought to you by Mushroom GMO. Do you
know how many subscribers we have on
YouTube now?
Uh, 20 million.
That's right. Yeah, that's why we're
wearing these glasses. Thanks for being
a subscriber. If you're not, help us get
to 20 million in one.
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Sep 23, 2025 #Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel returns to the air and talks about all of the people who have reached out over the last six days including fellow late night talk show hosts, fans of the show, and those who don’t support what he believes but support his right to share those beliefs anyway, and he expresses that it was never his intention to make light of the murder of a young man, how important it is to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this, the Chairman of the FCC Brendan Carr telling an American company that “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Trump saying he has no talent and no ratings, being fortunate to work at a company that has allowed us to do the show we want to do for almost 23 years, not agreeing with the decision to have our show pulled off the air last Wednesday, Trump making it very clear he wants to see Jimmy and other late night hosts fired, and solidarity from the right, left and those in the middle. Then Jimmy talks to the new FCC Chairman (Robert De Niro), and gets into Trump’s day addressing the United Nations, the escalator breaking, having trouble with the teleprompter, and the headache he’s creating with his buddy RFK over Tylenol.
Transcript
Breaking news on Jimmy Kimmel and
autism.
Jimmy Kimmel coming back to late night
television.
ABC chose to bring back their lowrating
nighttime host.
We are in for a monologue that will be a
marker in late night show history.
It's going to be a moment.
Yeah, no question. A huge moment in
American history.
It's one of the most pivotal moments in
broadcast history.
He will be delivering what is being
dubbed the most anticipated monologue in
late night in years.
Revolution change you
from Hollywood. It's Jimmy Kimmel L
tonight. Glenn Power and music from
Sarah McCluck with Cleo and the Cleones.
And now Jimmy Kimmel.
Thank you. Thank you.
Anyway, as I was saying before I was
interrupted.
If you're just joining us, we are
preempting your regularly scheduled
encore episode of Celebrity Family Feud
to bring you this special report. I'm
happy to be here tonight with you.
Please be seated.
I'm not sure who had a weirder 48 hours,
me or the CEO of Tylenol.
It's uh it's been overwhelming. I've
heard from a lot of people over the last
six days. I've heard from all the people
over in the world over the last six
days. Everyone I have ever met has
reached out 10 or 11 times. Weird
characters from my past are the guy who
fired me from my first radio job in
Seattle where we are not airing tonight
by the way. Sorry Seattle. His name is
Larry. In 1989, Larry tried to force me
to do a bit called jokes for donuts
where people would call in with a joke
and I would give them donuts. I refused
to do it and then I made a lot of fun of
Larry for suggesting it and eventually
Larry fired me and I had to move back in
with my parents. But even he wrote in to
cheer me up. Thank you, Larry. And I
want to thank everyone who checked in.
It would take all week to list all of
them, but
some that I do especially want to
mention are my fellow late night talk
show hosts, my friend Steven Colbear,
who's found himself in this predicament.
My friends John Stewart, Seth Myers,
Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, Conan
O'Brien, James Cordon, Arino, Kathy,
Wanda, Chelsea, even Jay reached out. I
heard from late night hosts in other
countries from Ireland and from Germany.
The guy in Germany offered me a job. Can
you imagine?
This country has become so
authoritarian. The Germans are like,
"Come here. Come loose."
My boyhood idols Howard Stern and David
Letterman were very considerate and
kind. And I feel honored to be part of a
group of people that knows what goes
into doing a show like this. And I also
want to thank all of you
thanks to
who supported our show, cared enough to
do something about it, to make your
voices heard so that mine could be
heard. I will never forget it. And maybe
weirdly,
maybe 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.
people who I never would have imagined
like Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Candace
Owens, Mitch McConnell, Ran Paul, even
my old pal Ted Cruz, who believe it or
not said something very beautiful on my
behalf. I hate what Jimmy Kimmel said. I
am thrilled that he was fired.
Oh, wait. No, not that. The the other
part. But let me tell you, if the
government gets in the business of
saying
can't say
what you, the media, have said, "We're
going to ban you from the airwaves if
you don't say what we like." That will
end up bad for conservatives.
I don't think I've ever said this
before, but Ted Cruz is right. He's
absolutely right. This affects
all of us, including him. I mean, think
about it. If Ted Cruz can't speak
freely, then he can't cast spells on the
Smurfs.
Even though I 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. And thanks um for telling your
followers
that our government
cannot be allowed to control what we do
and do not say on television and that we
have to stand up to it. I've been
hearing a lot about what I need to say
and do tonight. And the truth is I don't
think what I have to say is going to
make much of a difference. If you like
me, you like me. If you don't, you
don't. 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. I I don't
I don't think there's anything funny
about it. I I posted a message on
Instagram of the day he was killed
sending love to his family and asking
for compassion and I meant it and I
still do. uh 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. But I understand that to some
that felt either illtimed or unclear or
maybe both. And for those who think I
did uh 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. I have many friends and family
members on the other side who I love and
remain close to even though we don't
agree on politics at all. I don't think
the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk
represents anyone. This was a sick
person who believed violence was a
solution and it isn't it ever. And also
selfishly
I am
I am a person who gets a lot of threats.
I get many ugly and scary threats
against my life, my wife, my kids, my
co-workers because of what I choose to
say. And I know those threats don't come
from the kind of people on the right who
I know and love. So that's what I wanted
to say on that subject. But I don't want
to make this about me because and I know
this is what people say when they make
things about them, but I really don't.
This show,
this show is not important. What is
important is that we get to live in a
country that allows us to have a show
like this.
I meet I've had the opportunity to meet
and spend time with comedians and talk
show hosts from countries like Russia,
countries in the Middle East who tell me
they would get thrown in prison for
making fun of those in power. And worse
than being thrown in prison, they know
how lucky we are here. Our freedom to
speak is what they admire most about
this country. And that's something I'm
embarrassed to say I took for granted
until they pulled my friend Stephen off
the air and tried to coersse 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 unamerican and it
is so dangerous.
I want you to think about this.
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? You think that sounds
crazy?
10 years ago, this sounded crazy.
Brendan Carr, the chairman of the FCC,
telling an American company, "We can do
this the easy way or the hard way, and
that these companies can find ways to
change conduct and take action on Kimmel
or there's going to be additional work
for the FCC ahead." In addition to being
a direct violation of the First
Amendment, is not a particularly
intelligent threat to make in public.
Ted Cruz said he sounded like a mafioso.
Although, I don't know. If you want to
hear a mob boss make a threat like that,
you have to hide a microphone in a deli
and park outside in a van with a tape
recorder all night long. This genius
said it on a podcast. Brendan Carr is
the most embarrassing car Republicans
have embraced since this one. And that's
saying something.
The FCC
The FCC has a tradition of meddling
where they shouldn't under many
administrations, but it wasn't always
like this. There was an FCC commissioner
back in 2022 who worked under Joe Biden
who was spoton. He wrote, "President
Biden is right. Political satire is one
of the oldest and most important forms
of free speech. It challenges those in
power while using humor to draw more
people into the discussion. That's why
people in influential positions have
always targeted it for censorship. You
know who wrote that? FCC Commissioner
Brendan Carr,
who later was appointed chairman of the
FCC by this former crusader for free
speech.
If we don't have free speech, then we
just don't have a free country. It's as
simple as that. If this most fundamental
right is allowed to perish, then the
rest of our rights and liberties will
topple just like dominoes. One by one,
they'll go down. That was also in 2022.
And I wonder how did that guy turn into
this guy.
Who would you like to see replace Kimmel
on late night?
A lot of people, anybody could replace
him. Guy had no talent. Kimmel had,
look, he was fired. He had no talent.
He's a whack job, but he had no talent.
And more importantly the talent he had
no because a lot of people have no
talent they get ratings but he had no
ratings. Well,
I do tonight.
Thank you.
You almost
You almost have to feel sorry for him.
He tried did 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,
a lot of people have been asking me if
there are uh conditions for my return to
the air, and there is one. Disney has
asked me to read the following
statement, and uh I I've agreed to do
it. Uh here we go.
um to reactivate your Disney Plus and
Hulu account
open
the Disney Plus app on your smart TV or
TV connected device.
I've been um
fortunate to work at a company that has
allowed me to do the show the way we
want to do it for almost 23 years. I've
done almost 4,000 shows on ABC. And over
that time, the people who run this
network have allowed me to evolve and to
stretch the boundaries of what was once
traditional for a late night talk show,
even when it made them uncomfortable,
which I do a lot. Every night, they've
defended my right to poke fun at our
leaders and to advocate for subjects
that I think are important by allowing
me to use their platform. And I am very
grateful for that. With that said, I was
not happy when they pulled me off the
air on one. I did not agree with that
decision and I told them that and we had
many conversations. I shared my point of
view. They shared theirs. We talked it
through and at the end, even though they
didn't have to. They really didn't have
to. This is a giant company. We have
short attention spans and I am a tiny
part of the Disney Corporation. and they
welcomed me back on the air and I thank
them for that because I know
that that unfortunately
and I think unjustly this puts them 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. Our leader
celebrates Americans losing their
livelihoods because he can't take a
joke. He was
somehow
able to squeeze Cole Bear out of CBS.
Denny turned his sights on me and now
he's openly rooting for NBC to fire
Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers and the
hundreds of Americans who work for their
shows who don't make millions of
dollars. And I hope that if that happens
or if there's even any hint of that
happening, you will be 10 times as loud
as you were this week. We have to speak
out against this because
he's not stopping.
And it's not just comedy. He's gunning
for our journalists, too. He's suing
them. He's bullying them. Over the
weekend, his Foxy friend Pete Hgsth
announced a new policy that requires
journalists with Pentagon press
credentials to sign a pledge, promising
not to report information that hasn't
been explicitly authorized for release.
that includes unclassified information.
They want to pick and choose what the
news is. I know that's not as
interesting as musling a comedian, but
it's so important to have a free press,
and it is nuts that we aren't paying
more attention to it.
Walter Konite must be spinning in his
grave right now. He's dead, right?
Look, I never imagined I would be in a a
situation like this. I barely paid
attention in school. But one thing I did
learn from uh from Lenny Bruce and
George Carlin and Howard Stern is that a
government threat to silence a comedian
the president doesn't like is
anti-American. That's anti-American.
And I am so glad we have some solidarity
on that from the right and left and from
those in the middle like Joe Rogan.
Maybe the silver lining from this is we
found one thing we can agree on and
maybe we'll even find another one. Maybe
we can get a little bit closer together.
We do agree on a lot of things. We agree
on keeping our children safe from guns,
from on reproductive rights for women,
social security,
affordable health care, pediatric cancer
research. These are all things that most
Americans support. Let's stop letting
these politicians tell us what they want
and tell them what we want.
There was um
a moment over the weekend, a very
beautiful moment. I don't know if you
saw this on Sunday. Erica Kirk forgave
the man who shot her husband. She
forgave him. That is an example we
should follow.
If you believe
in the teachings of Jesus as I do, there
it was. That's that's it. A selfless act
of grace, forgiveness from a grieving
widow. It touched me deeply
and I hope it
It touches many and if there's anything
we should take from this tragedy to
carry forward, I hope it can be that uh
and not this. So, thank you for
listening and I'll have I'll have more
to say when we come back.
What about also those who say that
you're being in recent months awfully
thin skinned?
I've always been thin skinned. I've been
thin skinned from day one.
Welcome back to Jimmy Kimmel Live. We
are still on the air in most of the
country except ironically for Washington
DC where we have been preempted. We are
off the air in Nashville, New Orleans,
Portland, Oregon, Salt Lake City, and
St. Louis where none of my wife's family
is able to watch the show tonight. So,
sorry, Aunt Sharon. Sorry, Aunt Marine.
You'll have to go to YouTube, I guess.
But I am glad to be back at work. It was
touch and go for a minute. GMO did
something very sweet actually. He um
called me and he offered to sell his
laboos. I will never forget that
gesture, my friend. He's GMO.
I I've done a lot of talking. Is there
anything you would like to share with
the audience tonight?
Sure. I would like to say listen, this
world needs more people like Jimmy
Kimmel. He is the best.
He's a great man. a great father and
thank you Jimmy and I love you and I
stand with you all the way and I love
you.
That's very sweet.
If you stand with me all the way. Why
did Ryan Seress call me and tell me you
keep texting him over and over?
Never. Never. That was wrong Mexican.
Oh, I see.
Yeah. We were in the middle and in a lot
of ways still are in the middle of an
unprecedented fix. After almost 23 years
on the air, we're suddenly not being
broadcast in 20% of the country, which
is not a situation we relish. So, we
reached out to the chairman of the FCC,
Brendan Car. He has, to his credit,
agreed to join us from his office in
Washington, and here he is now. Thank
you, Chairman Carr, for being with us
tonight.
You tell Whoopi over there she better
show a little respect or the only view
she's getting is from under George
Washington the bridge not the guy.
Excuse me. Uh sir. Yeah. Hi. It's
Well, what is this? You sneak up on me.
You don't
You don't sneak up on a person. It's not
It's not nice. I'm I'm sorry. What is
your name? Cuz I was expecting to talk
to the chairman of the FCC.
You don't need to know my name. And And
I am the new chairman of the FCC.
You were appointed FCC chairman by
Donald Trump.
Sir Trump. Yes. I used to do this at
work with a man here and there in
Atlantic City.
But did I just hear you on the phone
threatening Whoopy Goldberg?
No. I would never threaten Miss
Goldstein. I was just teaching her a
lesson about consequences.
No, but pardon me for for saying so.
Maybe you're the wrong guy to talk to,
but it seems like the FCC is using mob
tactics to suppress free speech.
What did you just say to me?
I I I didn't mean any offensive. You
know, you can't curse or will get fined
by the FCC.
I am the FCC. I can say whatever the I
want. No. Uh, well, this does it sounds
a little like threats and intimidation
to me. Chairman,
stop that. It's Look, it's just me,
Jimmy. The chairman of the FCC gently
suggesting that you gently shut the up.
But you can't say that. That's a
violation of free speech.
Oh, yeah. About that speech. It ain't
free no more.
What? It's not free no more.
Yeah, we're charging by the word now.
You're charging by the word. How much
are you charging? It
depends on what you want to say. Like
you want to say something nice about the
president's beautiful thick yellow hair,
how he can do his makeup better than any
broad, that's free.
Okay. All right.
That seems reasonable.
But if you want to do a joke like he's
so fat he needs two seats on the Epstein
jet, that's
okay. Can I just ask just for clarity
because it's a pretty good joke. How
much would that one cost me?
Couple of fingers, maybe a tooth. And
you know how constipated he is?
So, is this how things are going to go
from now on?
We also got a new motto at the FCC.
Sticks and stones may break your bones.
And
well, the risk of that is but but I
think but words can never harm you.
Oh well well they can harm you now.
Let's make sure you pick the right
words. Capabish.
Yeah, I guess I I capiche, but I don't
think Oh, it sounds like you got a call
there, huh? Uh
hi, handsome.
Oh, I mean I'm sorry, Mr. Mr. President.
You okay? Okay. You You got it, sir. You
got it. Bye.
What did you say?
Look, I I got to go. A couple of cases
of Tylenol fell off a truck and now I
got to figure out how to put autism in
them.
Oh, okay. All right. Well, that sounds
that sounds tricky. So, good good luck
with good luck with that, sir.
Good luck with you. And I'll be watching
you, Kimmel. Maybe not on ABC. That's up
to you.
Okay. Well, thank you so much for your
time. And it is my honor to serve the
public interest.
Yeah, I know it is. I know. I know it
is. Thank you so much.
I got to tell you,
I like the new guy a lot.
You know, as of this taping, the
president has not weighed in on ABC's
decision to put us back on the air. I
don't know, maybe he's saving it for his
late night toilet time, but his
magnificence had other business today in
New York. big business addressing the
United Nations, which got off to a rocky
start when the Trumps hit the escalator
and it suddenly stopped.
They had to walk up.
He broke the escalator. Where was that
escalator 10 years ago when we needed it
on the way down?
Trump had trouble with his teleprompter
today, but spoke anyway for almost an
hour off the cuff in front of all these
foreign leaders. And when you think
about uniting nations, no one does it
better than Don.
It's time to end the failed experiment
of open borders. You have to end it now.
See, I can tell you I'm really good at
this stuff. Your countries are going to
hell.
Well, if that doesn't get him the Nobel
Prize, I don't know what will. Melania
was uh she sat for the speech. She was
there not just in her capacity as first
lady but also as a representative for
all the unsatisfied Slovenian women of
the world. Ramble Stiltskin was all over
the map today. He ranted about
windmills. He bragged about ending seven
wars. He threatened the guy who operates
the teleprompter. He complained about
being screwed out of a deal to renovate
the building they were in, the United
Nations building. He said, "You could
have had marble. You got terrarazzo. You
could have had mahogany. You got plastic
instead. Five translators had to be
hospitalized for confusion. But none of
that compared to the headache he is
creating with his buddy RFK blaming
autism on Tylenol. His press conference
yesterday was an all-timer. Trump, Bobby
Brainworm, and Dr. Roz strongly
recommend that pregnant women stop
taking Tylenol immediately. And the
president was very persuasive making his
case.
When the alternative is that nothing bad
can happen, let's do it now. I was just
saying to Bobby and the group, let's do
it now. Nothing bad can happen. It can
only good happen. But with Tylenol,
don't take it. Don't take it. That's
right. Follow the advice of Donald Trump
and you too can look like a glazed ham
with deep vein thrombosis.
It can only happen.
This is
This is Tylenol. We're talking about the
thing that you take when they won't let
you take anything that works.
It's never They gave me Tylenol. It's
always They gave me all they gave me was
Tylenol.
But make no mistake, this was an
historic announcement. This was a major
breakthrough in the field of medicine.
And just in case it isn't clear, if
someone comes up and offers you a
Tylenol, you should not take it.
Don't take Tylenol. Don't take it with
Tylenol. Don't take it. Don't take it.
Don't use Tylenol. Don't take Tylenol.
Don't take Tylenol. Fight like hell not
to take it. I think you shouldn't take
it. Don't take Tylenol. The baby goes
gets a shot. They say, "Here, take a
drop of Tylenol." I've heard that for
years. Take Tylenol. Don't take Tylenol.
Don't have your baby take Tylenol. Don't
give Tylenol
to the baby. Don't give Tylenol to the
baby. Don't give your baby Tylenol.
Don't take Tylenol. Don't take Tylenol.
Don't take Tylenol. Don't take it. Don't
take it. So,
that's it. There's nothing much to say.
Don't take Tylenol. Just don't take it.
And uh I just say it again. Don't take
Tylenol. Don't take it.
Brought to you by Mushroom GMO. Do you
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