Jimmy Kimmel says critics ‘maliciously mischaracterized’ his Kirk remarks

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By Dawn Chmielewski and Lisa Richwine

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Reuters) -Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel said on Wednesday he believed his comments about the reaction to the assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk were “intentionally and maliciously mischaracterized” by critics before his show was suspended.

Kimmel drew outrage from conservatives for saying on his September 17 show that President Donald Trump’s supporters were desperate to characterize Kirk’s accused assassin “as anything other than one of them” and for trying to “score political points” from his murder.

“I didn’t think there was a big problem,” Kimmel said to the initial backlash to his comments. “I just saw it as distortion on the part of some of the right-wing media networks, and I aimed to correct it.”

Speaking at the Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles, Kimmel added that he thought critics had “intentionally and maliciously mischaracterized” his remarks.

ABC parent Walt Disney temporarily pulled “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said the host misled viewers about Kirk’s alleged shooter’s affiliation with Trump’s Make America Great Again movement. Carr urged local stations to push back and raised the possibility of the FCC revoking the licenses of local television stations that did not comply.

Kimmel said he spent the weekend following his suspension speaking with Disney Entertainment Co-Chair Dana Walden about how to address the situation.

“It helped me think everything through, and it helped me just kind of understand where everyone was coming from,” Kimmel said. “I can sometimes be reactionary. I can sometimes be aggressive, and I can sometimes be unpleasant. And I think that it helped me really having those days to think about it.”

    Disney reinstated Kimmel after six days off the air.

The host said he told Disney executives “the spirit of what I’m going to say” when he returned to the airwaves “rather than specifically what I was going to say.”

Upon his return, Kimmel defended political satire against “bullying” from Trump and officials in his administration.

Kimmel’s voice choked with emotion, moments after he took the stage to a standing ovation, and he said: “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.”

(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski and Lisa Richwine; Editing by Kim Coghill)