Ben Stiller reacts to Jimmy Kimmel's show return after giving savage three-word response to suspension
The US entertainment industry seems unanimously in favor of the talk show's reinstatement.
The grand return of Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been celebrated by Ben Stiller on social media.
Following an enforced week-long layoff, which at one point was looking like a permanent cancelation, Kimmel's beloved talkshow made a comeback on ABC yesterday (September 23).
ABC initially suspended the programme 'indefinitely' in the wake of the host's monologue addressing Charlie Kirk's assassination.
However, when the network's parent company Disney was being widely threatened with boycotts - Tatiana Maslany of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Lost creator Damon Lindelof being just two of the outspoken stars - the decision to take Live! off air was retracted.
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The bank of the House of Mouse was still stung, though, reportedly losing around $5 billion from its stock value.
Reacting to Kimmel's first time back on screen since the debacle, Meet the Parents and Dodgeball actor Stiller tweeted on X: "What a brilliant monologue from Jimmy Kimmel."
Stiller had previously shared a savage three-word response to Kimmel's firing, writing on the same social platform: "This isn't right."
In his comeback monologue, the four-time Oscars host went in on US president Donald Trump, who'd played a major role in getting him removed from TV.
"You almost have to feel sorry for him, he tried his best to cancel me and instead he forced millions of people to watch the show," smiled Kimmel.
"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 can't take a joke.
"One thing I did learn from Lenny Bruce and George Carlin and Howard Stern, is that a government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn't like is anti-American," he continued.
Kimmel subsequently made sure to clarify his stance on Kirk's tragic death, having insinuated that his killer was a MAGA supporter.
"I want to make something clear because it is important to me as a human and that is that it was never my intention to make light of a murder of a young man," he said, holding back tears.
"I don't think there is 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."
The 57-year-old also touched on widow Erika Kirk's gesture of forgiveness during her husband's memorial service last weekend.
"Erika Kirk forgave the man who shot her husband. That is an example we should follow," he noted.
"It touched me deeply. And if there's anything we should take from this tragedy to carry forward, I hope it can be that, not this."
Topics: Charlie Kirk, Donald Trump, Film and TV, Jimmy Kimmel, Social Media
Dan Seddon