Late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel returned to the airwaves Tuesday night to lambast the Trump administration’s “mob tactics to suppress free speech,” a week after Disney suspended him following an outcry over comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

In his comeback show, Kimmel said through tears about right-wing activist Kirk: “It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”

He went on to mount an impassioned defense of free speech, saying: “This show is not important. What is important is that we live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”

Kimmel was pulled off the air indefinitely by the ABC network and its owner Disney on Sept. 17 after he said Republicans had mischaracterized the background of Kirk’s killer for political gain and likened President Donald Trump’s reaction to the assassination to that of a 4-year-old mourning the death of a goldfish.

In response, U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr warned broadcasters that “we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” adding: “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel or, you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

Just before “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” returned after its weeklong suspension, Trump threatened the network again, saying: “I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars.” Trump was referring to a 2024 defamation lawsuit, which ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos agreed to settle for $15 million.

In his first, highly anticipated monologue after his suspension, Kimmel spoke about comedians from Russia and the Middle East who faced being jailed or worse for making fun of those in power, saying: “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.”

Referring to the pressure the Trump administration placed on networks to cancel his show and others like it, Kimmel said: “That’s not legal, that’s not American, that is un-American.”

Kimmel said Trump wanted the shows yanked because “he can’t take a joke,” adding: “We have to speak out against this bully. He’s not stopping. And it’s not just comedy. He’s gunning for our journalists too. He’s suing them, he’s bullying them.”

Kimmel thanked Disney for putting him back on the air, saying the move “unjustly puts them at risk,” but said he disagreed with the decision to pull him in the first place.

Kimmel also highlighted the Trump administration’s pressure on the media, saying: “They want to pick and choose what the news is. I know that’s not as interesting as muzzling a comedian, but it’s so important to have a free press and it is nuts that we aren’t paying more attention to it.”