Overview

• Kimmel opened with remorse, saying he never intended to minimize Charlie Kirk’s killing or blame any specific group, and he praised Erika Kirk for her public forgiveness.
• He then criticized the Trump administration for trying to silence dissent, calling efforts to muzzle a comedian un-American.
• A sketch featured Robert De Niro portraying an FCC boss as a gangster, a nod invoked by Senator Ted Cruz to fault FCC chair Brendan Carr, whom Trump later praised as courageous.
• Two large ABC affiliate groups accounting for about 20 percent of the network’s distribution did not air the episode.
• Trump posted on Truth Social denouncing ABC for bringing Kimmel back and hinted at legal action, boasting of a prior $16 million outcome, while Kimmel’s suspension days earlier had already prompted a Hollywood boycott of Disney.