Jimmy Kimmel Makes Defiant, Emotional Return to Late Night

On Tuesday, Jimmy Kimmel made his official return to “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

When Jimmy stepped out onstage, he was greeted by a standing ovation from the audience, who also shouted his name.

During his monologue, Kimmel addressed his absence, saying, "I'm happy to be here tonight with you," before urging the crowd, "Please be seated."

Kimmel admitted that it's been "overwhelming" while talking about those who had reached out to him over the past six days during his politically charged suspension, including fellow late-night show hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver and Conan O'Brien.

To his many supporters, Kimmel said, "Want want to thank all of you. Thanks to those who supported our show, cared enough to do something about it, to make your voices heard so that mine could be heard. I will never forget it."

Naming right-wing figures Ben Shapiro, Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell and Candace Owens, Kimmel added, "I want to thank the people who don't support my show and what I believe, but support my right to share those beliefs anyway."

"Even though I don't agree with many of those people on most subjects, some of the things they say even make me want to throw up, it takes courage for them to speak out against this [Trump] administration, and they did, and they deserve credit on it," Kimmel went on. "And thanks for telling your followers that our government cannot be allowed to control what we do and do not say on television."

Referencing his past comments about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Jimmy choked up, saying, "The truth is, I don't think what I have to say is going to make much of a difference. If you like me, you like me. If you don't, you don't. 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."

He emphasized, "I don't think there's anything funny about it. I posted a message on Instagram on the day he was killed, sending love to his family and asking for compassion, and I meant it and I still do."

According to Kimmel, it wasn't his intention to "blame any specific group for the actions of what it was obviously a deeply disturbed individual."

Tyler James Robinson of Utah stands accused of the murder of Kirk.

He stressed, "That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make. But I understand that to some that felt either ill-timed or unclear, or maybe both."

Earlier Tuesday, Kimmel was spotted entering the set of his show through the back door to avoid the media frenzy.

Kimmel had also broken his silence for the first time since the show’s suspension earlier on Tuesday, sharing a photo of himself with late TV producer Norman Lear and writing, “Missing this guy today.”

Lear is widely seen as a free-speech icon.

On Monday, ABC and Disney announced that they were ending the show’s suspension.

In a statement obtained by “Extra,” ABC and Disney said, “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.”

They announced that the show was being pulled indefinitely after Kimmel made remarks about responses to Kirk's assassination.

They added, “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.”

Despite the announcement from ABC and Disney, U.S. TV station owner Sinclair will not be airing the show. In a statement, Sinclair said, “Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming. Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return.”

U.S. TV station owner Nexstar is also preempting the show on its ABC-owned affiliates.