Late-Night Hosts React To Jimmy Kimmel’s Return: “Our Long National Late-Nightmare Is Over”

Jimmy Kimmel Live with Stephen ColbertGetty

The host of NBC’s Late Night welcomed back his friend, who is returning to ABC tomorrow night, saying that there has been a “massive national backlash to Trump’s crackdown on free speech, even among conservatives”.

He opened his A Closer Look segment by joking about being on NBC. “Donald Trump is publicly calling on his attorney general to prosecute his political enemies and said TV networks that criticize him should lose their broadcast license. But that’s not us, right? We’re good? What we’re on a network?. But I don’t even wear a suit. This is a network? I thought we only aired on those gas station TVs,” he joked.

Meyers made the point that late-night hosts make fun of all Presidents, pointing out that he has made plenty of jokes about President Biden, particularly showing that video of him stumbling up the stairs to Air Force One a lot.

“We make jokes about politicians and people in the news, including Joe Biden. It was just harder with Joe Biden, because he didn’t say much. You, on the other hand, talk all the time. You never stop talking. You didn’t stop talking when he was president. You’ve talked more than all the other Presidents combined ever. People say Johnny Carson didn’t make this many jokes about politics, but he would have if every time he spoke, Ronald Reagan did 15 minutes on how toilets don’t flush well anymore,” he added.

Stephen Colbert was first out of the traps to welcome his friend Jimmy Kimmel back to the airwaves.

“Just a few hours before we taped this broadcast, we got word that our long national late-nightmare is over because Disney announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return to air,” The Late Show host said.

Earlier today, Disney said that Kimmel, who was preempted indefinitely on Wednesday, would return to Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday night after “thoughtful conversations”.

“This is wonderful news for my dear friend Jimmy and his staff. I’m so happy for them. Plus, now that Jimmy’s not being canceled, I get to enjoy [my Emmy],” Colbert joked. “Once more, I am the only martyr in late-night. Wait, unless, CBS, you want to announce anything?”

A Disney spokesman said earlier today, “Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country.  It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.  We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”

On Wednesday, ABC indefinitely preempted Jimmy Kimmel Live! following a furor around Kimmel’s comments about Charlie Kirk’s killer.

Kimmel, on his show last Monday night, said: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it.”

FCC chairman Brendan Carr subsequently threatened ABC to “find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead” and said that the comedian’s comments were “some of the sickest conduct possible.”

Earlier on Monday, Carr tried to deny that it was a threat to pull licenses of ABC stations. He said that “did not happen in any way, shape or form.”

Hours after Carr’s initial comments, local station group Nexstar revealed that it would “preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! for the foreseeable future” as it “strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk.” It soon was followed by similar comments from rival station group Sinclair.

Moments later, Disney made its own decision to pause the show.

What followed was days of discussions between Disney and Kimmel as the noise around the suspension grew louder on both sides of the political aisle.