Jimmy Kimmel returned to his eponymous talk show Tuesday night after a month-long summer break with a clear and pointed message for FCC chairman Brendan Carr.
The Trump-appointed chairman famously threatened action against Kimmel after the host’s comments about Charlie Kirk’s killing last year, warning ABC and its affiliates that they could do things “the easy way or the hard way” shortly before the network pulled his show from the air.
“This is a big show for us; not only is this my first show back, this is our 4,000th show,” Kimmel announced at the top of his monologue Tuesday night.
“It’s a lot of shows. According to the White House, it’s too many shows. This show premiered after the Super Bowl in January 2003.
“There were those who said we would never last this long. There are even those who used the regulatory might of the FCC to unconstitutionally try to make sure we didn’t last this long. But we did. We did it the hard way, Brendan. And we are still here,” Kimmel said, referring to Carr.
The Independent has contacted the FCC for comment.
Kimmel’s remarks came hours after Page Six reported that his upcoming season would be his last. “His contract is not getting extended,” a source familiar with the situation told the outlet.
However, an ABC spokesperson quickly denied the report, telling The Independent: “[This] information is inaccurate — any reports about the future of the show at this point are purely speculative.”
Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which has been on air for nearly 24 years, will remain in the ABC lineup at least until May 2027 after the host signed a one-year deal.
Kimmel’s show was briefly suspended in September last year following his controversial on-air comments about Kirk. When he returned a week later, Kimmel shared his regrets for his remarks, choking up as he said, “It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.”
Trump later called for Kimmel to be fired this April after the late-night host joked that First Lady Melania Trump had “a glow like an expectant widow.”
Days later, a gunman attempted to storm into the ballroom of The Washington Hilton, where Trump, Melania, several members of his administration and D.C. journalists were attending White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
“I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale,” Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time.
Kimmel responded, saying the joke was “about their age difference “ and “it was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination.”
ABC is currently embroiled in a legal battle with Trump’s FCC.
The network and its parent company Disney filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the government agency, accusing it of launching a “retaliatory campaign” over its news coverage and programming. The suit specifically cites Carr's comments about Kimmel.
The FCC has asked the court to toss out the lawsuit.
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