Jimmy Kimmel returned from his summer hiatus on Tuesday with a defiant message aimed at Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, marking the 4,000th episode of «Jimmy Kimmel Live!» with a declaration that the show remains on the air despite regulatory pressure.
«We’ve done 4,000 of these. Which is, it’s a lot of shows,» Kimmel said during the episode. «According to the White House, it’s too many shows.» He then addressed Carr directly, saying, «There are those who said we would never last this long. There are even those who used the regulatory might of the FCC to unconstitutionally try to make sure we didn’t last this long. But we did it the hard way, Brendan. And we are still here.»
The comment referenced Carr’s September 2025 warning to ABC and Disney that the FCC could take action over remarks Kimmel made about the man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Kirk was killed on September 10, 2025. Carr said at the time that Kimmel appeared to play into a narrative that the suspected assassin was motivated by MAGA or Republican ideology, adding, «Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or, you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.»
Kimmel’s Tuesday line about doing things «the hard way» was widely seen as a direct callback to Carr’s own phrasing. The FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Kimmel’s remarks. White House spokesman Davis Ingle, however, issued a statement dismissing the host, saying, «Jimmy Kimmel is a no-talent loser who has be-clowned himself with tanking ratings and by spewing disgusting lies to his dwindling audience. He is so devoid of actual talent that nobody with any commonsense would ever watch him unless it was to laugh at his miserable failures.»
Kimmel was briefly suspended from the air in 2025 after his comments about Tyler Robinson, the man accused of assassinating Kirk. In September, Kimmel suggested Robinson was part of the «MAGA gang,» saying, «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 doing everything they can to score political points from it.»
Former Disney CEO Bob Iger later defended the suspension, telling the Financial Times in June that the decision was not made to appease the Trump administration but because Disney viewed Kimmel’s remarks as «in bad taste.» Iger said Kimmel was asked to apologize, explaining, «We just wanted him to acknowledge that it was an ill-timed and probably inappropriate comment.»
During Tuesday’s episode, Kimmel also took aim at President Donald Trump, saying the two had something in common: «We both accomplished nothing all summer long.» He criticized inflation, Trump’s approval numbers, the reflection pool, and the war in Iran, adding, «At this point, Blockbuster Video has a better chance of reopening than the Strait of Hormuz.»
The return marks a significant moment for Kimmel, who has been at the center of a broader clash between the entertainment industry and federal regulators. Carr had earlier warned that ABC’s license renewal could be tied to an investigation into Disney’s diversity, equity, and inclusion practices, though he maintained the early renewal process was not specifically about Kimmel’s controversy. The host’s defiant tone suggests the feud is far from over as his show continues into its next chapter.