Jimmy Kimmel’s return attracts file scores regardless of restricted exhibiting

Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late night time TV after a close to weeklong suspension introduced his present its highest scores in a decade, Disney has stated.

Some 6.26 million folks tuned in to Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday – about triple its common scores – regardless of a few quarter of ABC stations within the US not airing it.

An additional 26 million watched Kimmel’s emotional 28-minute monologue on social media, Disney stated.

The preliminary numbers, compiled by analytics agency Nielsen, will doubtless enhance over the approaching days as extra knowledge is collected. The figures don’t embody streaming viewership.

By comparability, Jimmy Kimmel Live! drew a mean of 1.42 million viewers throughout its total 2024-2025 season.

Tuesday’s present was Kimmel’s first since he was pulled off air final week. ABC and its dad or mum firm Disney had stated it suspended the present due to feedback he made in regards to the man accused of fatally capturing conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

In his monologue on the time, Kimmel stated US President Donald Trump and his allies have been “desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them” and attempting to “score political points from it”.

Kimmel additionally likened Trump’s response to Kirk’s dying to “how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish”.

The choice to droop his present got here hours after Brendan Carr, chairman of US broadcast regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), threatened to behave in opposition to ABC and Disney over Kimmel’s remarks.

The controversy triggered nationwide debates over free speech.

During Tuesday’s present, a tearful Kimmel stated it “was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man”. He additionally accused Mr Carr of “mob tactics”.

The comedian additionally criticised Trump for calling for the axing of his fellow late-night hosts – all of whom are frequent critics of the president as they riff on the day’s largest information tales.

“Our leader celebrates people losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke,” Kimmel stated, including that Trump overtly rooting for folks to lose their jobs was “un-American” and “dangerous”.

Kimmel’s return was praised by some celeb supporters, together with actor Ben Stiller, who lauded the “brilliant monologue”. But it was not universally welcomed.

Trump was vital of his reinstatement, writing on social media: “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back.”

Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet, Kirk’s former producer, stated Kimmel ought to have provided a full apology for suggesting the suspected killer was a Maga supporter. “Not good enough,” he wrote on X.