Ellen DeGeneres and Stars Celebrate Jimmy Kimmel’s Return

Ellen DeGeneres led the stars reacting to Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show being reinstated following the controversial suspension.

Shortly after it was reported that ABC was reversing their decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the retired comedian, 67, shared her thoughts on social media.

DeGeneres, who is famous for being a talk show host herself, joined the slew of stars voicing their support for Kimmel and rejoicing at the announcement on Monday.

Last week, the network took down Kimmel’s talk show ‘indefinitely’ in response to the controversial comments he made about Charlie Kirk. 

Though ABC is putting Kimmel’s show back on the air, his comeback — and his secret monologue plan, as revealed by insiders — have been derailed as Sinclair Inc., a major ABC affiliate, is standing by its policy to keep the show off the air. 

‘Cannot wait to hear @JimmyKimmel’s monologue tomorrow,’ DeGeneres wrote as she shared a screenshot of the news on Instagram — just as Kimmel’s fellow late night talk show hosts addressed the news on their own Monday monologues.

Maria Shriver also responded to the announcement and tweeted on X: ‘My, oh my! & So the story continues.’ 

She also shared the news on her Instagram and penned a lengthy caption about ‘more open dialogue’ and a ‘way out of cancel culture.’ 

‘@JimmyKimmel returns to the airwaves tomorrow night after ABC decide last week to ‘indefinitely’ suspend @JimmyKimmelLive,’ she began.

‘None of us know what went on behind the scenes, but for sure we know business was at the heart of it,’ she continued. 

‘Maybe now that ABC has made a bold decision to allow someone back other organizations and other companies who fired people will do the same. Maybe this is a way out of cancel culture and into a more open dialogue that will help us all come together, to better understand one another. Because that’s our only hope: forgiveness, open dialogue, and understanding. #abovethenoise.’ 

Charmed actress Alyssa Milano also shared a screenshot of the news and wrote in her caption: ‘Protest matters. Use your voice.’ 

Scandal star Joshua Malina said that he is wary about reinstalling Disney+ after the boycott despite being happy about the news. 

‘Boom,’ he tweeted on X. ‘I am not. I think it’s early to know how this all ultimately plays out.’ 

‘Ironically this whole fiasco is gonna do wonders for Jimmy Kimmel’s ratings,’ comedian Gianmarco Soresi joked on X. 

Piers Morgan also chimed in and wrote on X: ‘Wow…so, Kimmel wasn’t cancelled by Trump or the FCC after all — but temporarily suspended by his employer because they thought what he said was ill-timed and insensitive.’ 

Many of Kimmel’s late night talk show host colleagues also shared their reactions to the controversial suspension being finally reversed. 

Seth Meyers, the host of NBC’s Late Night, addressed the news, calling it the result of a ‘massive national backlash to Trump’s crackdown on free speech, even among conservatives.’ 

On Monday night, he opened his A Closer Look segment by joking about his show’s security and being on NBC. 

‘Donald Trump is publicly calling on his attorney general to prosecute his political enemies and said TV networks that criticize him should lose their broadcast license,’ he joked. 

‘But that’s not us, right? We’re good? What we’re on a network? But I don’t even wear a suit. This is a network? I thought we only aired on those gas station TVs.’ 

Meyers also pointed out that hosts of late night talk shows making fun of politicians is not exclusive to Trump and his cabinet. 

He noted that he has made a number of jokes about former President Biden in the past. 

‘We make jokes about politicians and people in the news, including Joe Biden. It was just harder with Joe Biden, because he didn’t say much,’ he jokingly addressed Trump. 

‘You, on the other hand, talk all the time. You never stop talking. You didn’t stop talking when he was president. You’ve talked more than all the other Presidents combined ever.’

He added: ‘People say Johnny Carson didn’t make this many jokes about politics, but he would have if every time he spoke, Ronald Reagan did 15 minutes on how toilets don’t flush well anymore.’

Stephen Colbert also addressed the news of Kimmel’s return on The Late Show. ‘Just a few hours before we taped this broadcast, we got word that our long national late-nightmare is over because Disney announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return to air,’ he said. 

Colbert also joked about the safety of his talk show.

‘This is wonderful news for my dear friend Jimmy and his staff. I’m so happy for them. Plus, now that Jimmy’s not being canceled, I get to enjoy [my Emmy],’ he said. ‘Once more, I am the only martyr in late-night. Wait, unless, CBS, you want to announce anything?’

Earlier on Monday, Disney made an announcement about their decision to reverse the suspension of Kimmel’s show.

‘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.’ 

This comes after ABC indefinitely preempted Jimmy Kimmel Live! last week following backlash for the talk show host’s comments about the shooter who murdered the conservative political activist.

Kimmel made his controversial statement on his show Monday evening and had said during his monologue: ‘We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it.’