Jimmy Kimmel claims show suspension over lies about Charlie Kirk's killing was 'almost a near-death experience'

After winning the Critics Choice Award for Best Talk Show on Sunday, Kimmel told reporters that his show being temporarily taken off the air over comments he made in the wake of the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was "almost a near-death experience for me."

"I think that—it’s interesting, it was almost a near-death experience for me. Of course, not literally, but I did feel a little bit like Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn watching their own funeral when all this stuff happened. And to be here and to see that people reacted to it in a, not just a positive way, but in almost a desperate way where like, 'oh boy, when they come after the comedians, this is when we draw the line.' And, you know, we’re very grateful that they drew the line at us."

Kimmel’s show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, was pulled off the air by ABC in the days following Kirk’s September 10 assassination after he claimed that the "MAGA gang" was "desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it." Charged with the killing is Tyler Robinson, who was in a relationship with his transgender roommate and became more left wing as the years progressed. 

Andrew Alford, President of Nexstar's broadcasting division said in a statement about the pulling of the show at the time, "Mr. Kimmel's comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located. Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue."

ABC lifted its suspension around a week later, with a spokesman saying at the time, "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. 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." In the days following ABC's end of the suspension, Nexstar and fellow major broadcasting group Sinclair ended their preemption of the late-night show.