Emotional Jimmy Kimmel says in late-night return he never intended to make light of Kirk's killing

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NEW YORK (AP) — Jimmy Kimmel returned to late-night television Tuesday after a nearly weeklong suspension and, in an emotional monologue where he appeared close to tears, said that he wasn't trying to joke about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

“I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make something clear, because it’s important to me as a human and that is, you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man," Kimmel said. "I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”

He added that he wasn't trying to blame any specific group "for the actions of what ... was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make.” He said he understood his remarks last week to some “felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both.”

But he made no apologies. And he criticized the ABC affiliates who took his show off the air. Two stations groups that represent about a quarter of ABC stations, Sinclair and Nexstar, ordered their outlets not to show Kimmel on Tuesday.

“That's not American. It's un-American,” he said.

The incident triggered a national discussion about freedom of speech and President Donald Trump’s ability to police the words of journalists, commentators and even comics. ABC suspended Kimmel's show last Wednesday following criticism of his remarks about the aftermath of Kirk's killing. But the network brought him back following a backlash against parent company Disney.

Kimmel thanked many supporters, including fellow late-night hosts past and present and even a former boss at a radio station in Seattle who checked in with him last week. He also singled out people he knows aren't fans of his comedy but stood up for his right to speak, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

"It takes courage for them to speak out against this administration," he said. "They did, and they deserve credit for it.”

Kimmel nearly broke down again in praising Kirk's widow, Erika, who publicly forgave her husband's killer.

“That is an example we should follow,” he said. “If you believe in the teachings of Jesus as I do, there it was ... A selfless act of grace, forgiveness from a grieving widow. It touched me deeply. And I hope it touches many. And if there's anything we should take from this tragedy to carry forward, I hope it can be that. And not this.”

Kimmel admitted that he was mad when ABC suspended him, but praised his bosses for putting him back on the air. “Unjustly, this puts them at risk.”

He mocked Trump for criticizing him for bad ratings. “He tried his best to cancel me and instead he forced millions of people to watch this show,” Kimmel said.

The decisions by Sinclair and Nexstar left ABC stations in Washington, D.C.; St. Louis; Nashville, Tennessee, and Richmond, Virginia among the cities airing something else. WJLA-TV, the Sinclair-owned station in Washington, instead aired a newscast and an episode of the chain's show, “The National Desk.”

Kimmel's suspension came after an angry reaction to comments he made in monologues early last week. A relentless Trump critic in his comedy, Kimmel suggested that many Trump supporters were trying to capitalize on Kirk’s death and were “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”

Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr last week said it appeared that Kimmel was trying to “directly mislead the American public” with his remarks about Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old Utah man charged with Kirk's killing, and his motives. Those motives remain unclear. Authorities say Robinson grew up in a conservative family, but his mother told investigators his son had turned left politically in the last year.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said before ABC announced the suspension. “These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

Those remarks were key to the backlash, with Cruz saying that Carr acted like “a mafioso.” Hundreds of entertainment luminaries, including Tom Hanks, Barbra Streisand and Jennifer Aniston, signed a letter circulated by the American Civil Liberties Union that called ABC's move “a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.”

Podcaster Joe Rogan weighed in Tuesday on Kimmel's side. “I definitely don't think that the government should be involved — ever — in dictating what a comedian can or can't say in a monologue,” Rogan said. “You are crazy for supporting this because this will be used on you.”

Some consumers punished ABC parent Disney by canceling subscriptions to its streaming services.

Trump had hailed Kimmel's suspension and criticized his return, writing on his Truth Social platform: “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back ... Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who's not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE."

Actor Robert De Niro appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Tuesday, impersonating Carr being interviewed by Kimmel. De Niro, as Carr, said the FCC had a new motto, “Sticks and stones can break your bones.”

Isn't there more to the saying, Kimmel asked, that words can never hurt you?

“They can hurt you now,” De Niro responded, saying you have to make sure to say the right ones.

Kimmel took the stage to a long standing ovation and chants of “Jimmy, Jimmy.” One audience member, Walter Bates, said after the taping that Kimmel's discussion of Kirk's widow “was a very moving moment. I got very emotional and so did my wife.”

Trump's administration has used threats, lawsuits and federal government pressure to try to exert more control over the media industry. Trump sued ABC and CBS over news coverage, which the companies settled. Trump has also filed defamation lawsuits against The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and successfully urged Congress to strip federal funding from NPR and PBS.

After pulling out of her planned performance at the premiere of Hulu's Lilith Fair documentary in protest over Kimmel's suspension, singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan appeared on Kimmel's show as the musical guest. McLachlan had been booked on the show prior to the preemption, a representative told The Associated Press.

The other guest was actor Glen Powell.

The suspension happened at a time when the late-night landscape is shifting. Shows are losing viewers, in part because many watch highlights the next day online. CBS announced the cancellation of “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert’s show over the summer. Kimmel's contract with ABC reportedly lasts through May.

Colbert, in his own monologue Monday shortly after ABC announced Kimmel would return, grabbed his recently won Emmy Award for outstanding talk series, saying, “Once more, I am the only martyr on late night!”

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Associated Press journalists Maria Sherman and Hillel Italie in New York, Alicia Rancilio in Detroit and Liam McEwan in Los Angeles contributed to this report.