ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel is back on the air, but he is not apologizing for his controversial comments about a “MAGA gang” and the man charged in the murder of Charlie Kirk. Instead of apologizing, Mr. Kimmel said his words were misinterpreted and, in the closest he came to a concession, that he understood why he could have been misunderstood. 

Mr. Kimmel received a standing ovation at the start of his show Tuesday night, and joked, “As I was saying before I was interrupted … If you’re just joining us, we’re preempting your regularly scheduled episode of ‘Celebrity Family Feud.’”

Mr. Kimmel’s highly anticipated comments came nearly a week after he was suspended by ABC and its corporate parent, the Walt Disney Company, after he said on his show that a “MAGA gang was desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.” By the time of his controversial remark, the governor of Utah, Spencer Cox, had stated that the suspect held left-wing views. 

The late-night host opened his first show after his suspension on Tuesday by going into great detail, listing the various famous people who had supported him, including notable conservatives like Senator Ted Cruz.

However, it quickly became clear that Mr. Kimmel did not intend to apologize, saying, “I’ve been hearing a lot about what I need to say and do tonight. And 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.”

He stated that it was not his intention to “make light of the murder of a young man.” He tearfully noted that before his controversial remarks early last week, he had posted a message on social media “sending love to his family.”

“Nor was it my intention 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,” Mr. Kimmel said. “But, I understand that to some that felt either ill-timed or unclear, or maybe to both.”

Mr. Kimmel said he “get[s]” why people are upset with his comments and stated that he does not believe Kirk’s murderer “represents anyone.”

Beyond this pushback at the notion that Kirk’s killer represented a violent strain of the far left — as President Trump has claimed — Mr. Kimmel did not elaborate on what he had intended to mean with his comment about the “MAGA gang.”

Without apologizing for the comment, Mr. Kimmel went on to deliver a warning about free speech under the Trump administration and to criticize the push for ABC to suspend him. Mr. Kimmel said he was “not happy” that ABC suspended him and said he made his views clear, but thanked the network for bringing his show back. 

He mocked Mr. Trump, saying, “He tried his best to cancel me, instead he forced millions to watch the show. That backfired bigly. He might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this now.”

“The president of the United States made it very clear he wants to see me and the hundreds of people who work here fired from our jobs. Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he cannot take a joke,” Mr. Kimmel said.  “He was somehow able to squeeze Colbert out of CBS. Then he turned his sights on me, and now he’s openly rooting for NBC to fire Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, and the hundreds of Americans who work for their shows who don’t make millions of dollars.”

He also took a jab at the president’s warning on Monday that pregnant women should not take Tylenol, saying, “That’s right. Follow the advice of Donald Trump and you too can look like a glazed ham with deep vein thrombosis.”

Roughly an hour before Mr. Kimmel’s show aired, President Trump posted on Truth Social, “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled! Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his “talent” was never there. 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.”

“He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution. I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings,” Mr. Trump added. 

Mr. Kimmel’s insensitive comment last week sparked outrage from conservatives and led to what was perceived as a threat by the Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, who said ABC could take the “easy way” and voluntarily handle the Kimmel situation or the “hard way,” which he implied would involve an investigation by his agency.

Mr. Carr also suggested that local station groups should decide that Mr. Kimmel’s show does not serve the “public interest” and therefore preempt his show to put pressure on ABC and Disney to address the situation. Hours later, the two largest station groups, Nexstar and Sinclair, announced they would preempt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

Together, Sinclair and Nexstar account for roughly 70 ABC affiliates, more than a quarter of its local stations. Mr. Kimmel made light of the preemptions, apologizing to his in-laws for their not being able to see his show.

Critics have attributed the decision of Nexstar — whose management, like Sinclair’s, is believed to be conservative — to its business interests, as it recently announced a deal to merge with another station group, Tegna, which requires the approval of the Federal Communications Commission. 

Sinclair and Nexstar have both said they found Mr. Kimmel’s remarks to be insensitive and attributed them to the decision to preempt this show. For his part, Mr. Carr has insisted he was not threatening the station groups. Instead, he explained his comment about the “hard way” by stating anyone could have filed a complaint with the FCC, which he said would have had a statutory obligation to “adjudicate.”

In its statement announcing Mr. Kimmel’s return, Disney also said it found his comment to be “ill-timed” and “insensitive.” However, it said executives had “thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show.”

While Disney and ABC appear to have been satisfied with the conversations with Mr. Kimmel, it is unclear whether Sinclair and Nexstar will be placated by his comments on Tuesday night.

Both station groups said they would stand by their original decisions to preempt Mr. Kimmel’s show. They said they were having discussions with ABC, but Nexstar did not provide any public indications of what conditions it would require to reverse course.

Sinclair, whose management is considered the most conservative of the station groups, said last week that it wants Mr. Kimmel to apologize to the Kirk family and to make a donation to Turning Point USA before it airs the late-night show again.

On Tuesday night, Mr. Kimmel repeatedly lambasted and mocked Mr. Carr, calling his comments about him “illegal” and comparing him to a Tesla Cybertruck with “TRUMP” painted on it.

Academy Award-winning actor Robert DeNiro, a devoted foe of Mr. Trump, made a surprise appearance, playing a Brendan Carr-like FCC chairman threatening Whoopi Goldberg with being thrown off the George Washington Bridge for insulting Mr. Trump on “The View.”