Sombre but defiant Jimmy Kimmel defends free speech in return to ABC

Jimmy Kimmel (left, in a February photo) broke his silence on Sept 23 in an emotional return to ABC’s airwaves, by turns defiant, joking and sombre as he addressed the controversy that temporarily sidelined his late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! and set off a national debate over free speech.

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His voice breaking at times, Kimmel said he understood why his comments last week about the suspected shooter of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk seemed “ill-timed, or unclear, or maybe both”.

The American host and comedian added: “It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.”

But Kimmel, 57, also had harsh words for President Donald Trump and the government regulator who suggested that the Trump administration would punish ABC because of his remarks, saying that “a government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn’t like is anti-American”.

“This show is not important,” Kimmel said in his opening monologue. “What’s important is that we get to live ina country that allows us to have a show like this.”

Executives at Disney, ABC’s parent company, pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air last week, shortly after the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Mr Brendan Carr, suggested that his agency could take action against the network.