The latenight host's sixday removal from the airwaves prompted a national debate about free speech. Jimmy Kimmel's return from suspension gets highest ratings i

The late-night host's six-day removal from the airwaves prompted a national debate about free speech.

Jimmy Kimmel's return from suspension gets highest ratings in a decade despite affiliate boycotts

The late-night host's six-day removal from the airwaves prompted a national debate about free speech.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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September 24, 2025 9:07 p.m. ET

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Jimmy Kimmel on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'. Credit:

Disney/Randy Holmes

An hour before Jimmy Kimmel returned to the airwaves from a six-day suspension, President Donald Trump wrote on social media, "Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings."

On Tuesday evening however, the late-night host's ratings were anything but bad: *Jimmy Kimmel Live* was watched by 6.2 million viewers on broadcast, according to Nielsen ratings shared by Disney on Wednesday. That figure is nearly four times the show's average.

The feat was particularly impressive because the show didn't air at all on ABC affiliates owned by Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcasting Group, in areas including New Orleans; Seattle; Lubbock, Texas; Sioux City, Iowa; and Hartford, Conn. In all, Kimmel's show was preempted in 23 percent of U.S. households.**

Among adults 18 to 49, Tuesday's episode — featuring actor Glen Powell and singer Sarah McLachlan — earned a 0.87 rating, marking *Jimmy Kimmel Live*'s highest viewership for a regularly scheduled episode sine March 12, 2015.

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Video of Kimmel's monologue also racked up more than 26 million views on YouTube and social media platforms, according to Disney. The initial data did not include streaming numbers.

Kimmel was taken off the air last week for comments he made in a Sept. 15 monologue about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. ABC suspended production on *Jimmy Kimmel Live* after TV station owners Nexstar and Sinclair announced that they would be pre-empting the program in response to his remarks about Kirk.

The events set off a national debate about free speech, and on Monday, Disney announced that Kimmel's show was being reinstated after "thoughtful conversations."**

Those who tuned in for Kimmel's big return Tuesday witnessed him joke about his unexpected hiatus. His first words were, "Anyway, as I was saying before I was interrupted…" The audience exploded with applause.**

The Emmy winner went on to give an emotional statement about Kirk, with Kimmel saying that he never took his death lightly.

"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. I still do," 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."

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Kimmel praised Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, for forgiving the man who shot her husband, and said that was what he hoped that people took away from the tragedy.

Kimmel also noted that the loss of his show or other late-night programs would mean the loss of hundreds of jobs, all because Trump "can't take a joke." He said that if other shows go, he hopes people "will be 10 times as loud as you were this week."**

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Source: "AOL TV"

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