Jimmy Kimmel’s comeback!
Los Angeles, US, Sep 23 (EFE).-
Jimmy Kimmel returned to his show on Tuesday with an emotional monologue in which he apologized for his comments about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and lashed out at US President Donald Trump for not being able to “take a joke” and undermining freedom of expression in the country.
“Our government cannot be allowed to control what we do and do not say on television,” Kimmel said as he returned to the small screen to a standing ovation.
The comedian began his appearance by thanking those who continued to support the show and “cared enough to do something about it, to make your voices heard so that mine will be heard.”
“I will never forget it. And most of all 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,” he added.
Kimmel said he’d heard a lot about what he should say and how he should conduct the show but added that he didn’t expect to make a big difference with his words.
“If you like me, you like me, and if you don’t, you don’t. I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind. But I do wanna 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.
“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. But I understand that to some, that felt either ill-timed or unclear, or maybe both. And for those who think I did, point a finger, I get why you’re upset. If the situation was reversed, there’s a good chance I’d have felt the same way,” he added.
“This show is not important,” Kimmel said during his first monologue since Disney, which owns ABC, suspended his late-night show from the network last week over his comments on the shooting of Charlie Kirk.
“What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this,” he added.
Kimmel’s popular late-night show is facing a partial boycott by companies like Nexstar and Sinclair, which control more than 50 channels in the US and refused to broadcast the show.
In fact, some areas, like the US capital, were unable to watch Kimmel’s show on television, although it was still visible on some cable channels.
“If we don’t have freedom of speech, we simply don’t have a free country. It’s that simple. If we allow this fundamental right to perish, the rest of our rights and freedoms will crumble, like dominoes, one by one,” Kimmel argued, followed by applause from the audience.
He used part of his opening monologue to attack Trump for singling out journalists and to make a plea for freedom of the press.
The US government “wants to pick and choose what the news is. I know that’s not as interesting as muzzling a comedian, but it’s so important to have a free press, and it is nuts that we aren’t paying more attention to it,” he warned.
Trump has made it very clear “that 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,” he said.
He also mentioned Erika Kirk, who, during her husband’s memorial, forgave the man who had shot him.
“She forgave him. That is an example we should follow. If you believe in the teachings of Jesus, as I do, there it was. That’s it. A selfless act of grace, forgiveness from a grieving widow,” Kimmel concluded. EFE mvg/pd
