Welcome to our Late Night Roundup, your essential guide to the most impactful moments from last night’s broadcasts! We’ve distilled the key highlights so you can catch up without losing sleep, featuring all the sharp wit and crucial commentary. (And for your next binge, check out the 50 best movies streaming on Netflix right now.)
A Heartfelt Apology and a Powerful Return
Tuesday night marked a significant moment in late-night television as Jimmy Kimmel made a poignant return to ABC. Greeted with a thunderous standing ovation, the host delivered his first monologue since his controversial suspension last Wednesday.
Kimmel opened with a classic self-aware quip, stating, “Anyway, as I was saying before I was interrupted.”
“I’m not sure who had a weirder 48 hours, me or the C.E.O. of Tylenol.” — JIMMY KIMMEL
During his monologue, Kimmel expressed profound gratitude for the “overwhelming” global support he received. He specifically acknowledged the solidarity shown by his fellow late-night hosts, saying:
“It would take all week to list all of them. But someone I do especially want to mention are my fellow late night talk show hosts, my friend Stephen Colbert — who’s found himself in this predicament. My friends Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, Conan O’Brien, James Corden, Arsenio, Kathy, Wanda, Chelsea, even Jay reached out. I heard from late night hosts in other countries — from Ireland and from Germany. The guy in Germany offered me a job. Can you imagine? This country has become so authoritarian the Germans are like, ‘Come here’!” — JIMMY KIMMEL
Kimmel then shifted to a more somber tone, becoming visibly emotional as he addressed the controversy surrounding Charlie Kirk’s killing and the remarks that led to his suspension.
“I’ve been hearing a lot about what I need to say and do tonight, and the truth is, I don’t think what I have to say is going to make much of a difference: If you like me, you like me, if you don’t, you don’t. I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind. But I do want to 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. I don’t — I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.” — JIMMY KIMMEL
“And also, selfishly, I am a person who gets a lot of threats. I get many ugly and scary threats against my life, my wife, my kids, my co-workers, because of what I choose to say, and I know those threats don’t come from the kind of people on the right who I know and love, so, that’s what I wanted to say on that subject. But I don’t want to make this about me, because — and I know this is what people say when they make things about them — but I really don’t.” — JIMMY KIMMEL
The host further delved into the core issue of free speech that triggered his suspension. He expressed his profound dissatisfaction with his show being taken off the air and conveyed immense gratitude for the chance to be reinstated.
“I’ve had the opportunity to meet and spend time with comedians and talk show hosts from countries like Russia, countries in the Middle East who told me they would get thrown in prison for making fun of those in power and worse than being thrown in prison. They know how lucky we are here. Our freedom to speak is what they admire most about this country, and that’s something I’m embarrassed to say I took for granted until they pulled my friend Stephen off the air, and tried to coerce the affiliates who run our show in the cities that you live in to take my show off the air. That’s not legal, that’s not American. That is un-American, and it is so dangerous.” — JIMMY KIMMEL
“A lot of people have been asking me if there are conditions for my return to the air, and there is one. Disney has asked me to read the following statement, and I have agreed to do it. Here we go: ‘To reactivate your Disney+ and Hulu account, open the Disney+ app on your smart TV or TV-connected device.’” — JIMMY KIMMEL
The Late Night “Peanut Gallery” Weighs In
“Welcome to ‘The Tonight Show.’ Hey, and if you’re tuning in to see what I’ll say about my suspension the last couple of days, again you’re watching the wrong Jimmy.” — JIMMY FALLON
“I’m going to say thanks to everybody in here and to everybody watching from home, who I think might just be my wife, Evie, because everybody else is probably watching ABC because tonight Jimmy Kimmel returned to the airwaves.” — STEPHEN COLBERT
“Later tonight, Jimmy Kimmel will return after he was taken off the air. [audience boos] I know. Yeah, and here I thought America had a strict policy against torture.” — GREG GUTFELD
“I’m glad Kimmel’s back. He’s a wonderful fella. To know him well is to admire him immensely, even if he takes the whole summer off.” — STEPHEN COLBERT
Noteworthy Moments: The Bits Worth Watching
For a dose of comedic fun, Tuesday’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers” featured a hilarious segment where Meyers enjoyed a day of drinking alongside “Las Culturistas” co-hosts Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers.
What’s Coming Up: Wednesday Night’s Highlights
Country music sensation Lainey Wilson is slated to make an appearance on Wednesday’s “Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
Also Worth Your Attention
Sterlin Harjo’s latest work, “The Lowdown” — a gritty noir follow-up to “Reservation Dogs” — maintains his signature strong sense of setting but ratchets up the action with plenty of intense confrontations.