Overview

• At Bloomberg Screentime on Wednesday, Jimmy Kimmel said he would invite President Trump onto Jimmy Kimmel Live and added, “I’ll ask him.”
• He argued his remarks about Charlie Kirk’s killing were “intentionally” and “maliciously mischaracterized” and said he briefly believed the show was finished.
• Kimmel tied the flap to FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s public warnings and to preemptions by Nexstar and Sinclair before ABC restored the program in under a week.
• His comeback drew about 6.3 million TV viewers and strong online numbers, while a later report said live viewership fell to roughly 1.9 million by Oct. 2.
• A YouGov/The Economist poll conducted Sept. 26–29 showed Kimmel with +3 net favorability compared with Trump’s −13, a gap he highlighted on his Oct. 6 monologue.