Jimmy Fallon Laughs When Sean Penn Tells FCC to ‘Suck Less’ on The Tonight Show as Jimmy Kimmel Is Set to Return to Air

Sean Penn had a sharp message for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and Jimmy Fallon was right there to hear it.

The 65-year-old actor appeared on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon the same day ABC announced the return of Jimmy Kimmel Live! after its brief suspension. During the conversation, Penn pulled out an envelope and jokingly wondered if there was a “guillotine” above his head on set.

“I found this in the dressing room. And I just thought I’d get it out of the way because, you know, it’s got brevity, I suppose. It was to the FCC. It was just this,” Penn said, revealing a patch that read “SUCK LESS” in bold letters.

Fallon laughed, replying, “Thank you for finding it. I left that in there. Or a friend of mine did.”

The late-night shakeup began on Sept. 17, when ABC and Nexstar confirmed to PEOPLE that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be pulled “indefinitely” following Kimmel’s controversial remarks about the shooting death of Charlie Kirk. Days later, on Sept. 22, ABC announced the show’s return.

Kimmel addressed the situation during his comeback monologue, 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. In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”

He also noted that the White House’s decision to lower flags to half-staff drew some criticism but showed “how hard the president is taking this.” Kimmel followed the clip with a joke about President Donald Trump’s decision to comment on the new White House ballroom instead, quipping, “Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief, construction.”

Ahead of taping, Kimmel had shared condolences with Kirk’s family on social media: “Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human? On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.”

When announcing the show’s return, ABC explained its earlier decision: “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.”

Nexstar, which owns more than 200 stations nationwide, initially confirmed it would preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! “for the foreseeable future.” The company is also awaiting final FCC approval for its $6.2 billion acquisition of rival broadcaster Tegna.

Meanwhile, Sinclair Broadcasting announced it would also pull Kimmel’s program from its ABC affiliates and continue replacing it with news programming.

The controversy drew praise from FCC Chair Brendan Carr, who commended Nexstar for pushing ABC to remove Kimmel, writing on X that broadcasters should “push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values.”

Fallon addressed the suspension on his own show, telling viewers: “Big story is that Jimmy Kimmel was suspended by ABC after pressure from the FCC, leaving everyone thinking WTF. This morning, I woke up to 100 text messages from my dad saying, ‘I’m sorry they canceled your show.’ Hang on, that’s not me. That’s Jimmy Kimmel.”

He added, “To be honest, I don’t know what’s going on, and no one does. But I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he’s a decent, funny, and loving guy, and I hope he comes back.”

Fallon then pivoted to lighter material, joking about President Trump’s U.K. trip and even mocking photos activists projected onto a castle that showed Trump alongside Jeffrey Epstein.

In the days leading up to the show’s return, support for Kimmel mounted. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) published an open letter signed by more than 400 entertainers and public figures.

“Last week, Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air after the government threatened a private company with retaliation, marking a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation,” the letter read. “In an attempt to silence its critics, our government has resorted to threatening the livelihoods of journalists, talk show hosts, artists, creatives, and entertainers across the board. This runs counter to the values our nation was built upon, and our Constitution guarantees.”

The statement concluded with a call to action: “Regardless of political affiliation, or whether we engage in politics or not, we all love our country. We also share the belief that our voices should never be silenced by those in power – because if it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us. This is the moment to defend free speech across our nation.”

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