Jimmy Kimmel Breaks Silence in First Post Since His Suspension with Photo of TV Legend Norman Lear, Who Was on Nixon’s ‘Enemies List’

Jimmy Kimmel has made his first return to social media since his late-night show went on hiatus.

On Tuesday, Sept. 23, the 57-year-old shared a photo on Instagram with the late Norman Lear, writing, “Missing this guy today.”

Lear, a legendary TV writer, producer, and activist, passed away at 101 in December 2023. He is best known for creating the groundbreaking series All in the Family, which addressed social and political issues that were considered controversial at the time.

During a Dec. 17, 2023 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Kimmel paid an emotional tribute to Lear, calling him “not only a giant in the world of television, but a great man who was one of the most important and impressive people I ever had the pleasure of meeting.”

“He changed situation comedy in the best possible way,” Kimmel said. “He taught us so much about so many serious things, always making us laugh while he did it, and everyone who works in or even watches television owes him a great debt. Especially me.”

The post appeared just hours before Jimmy Kimmel Live! returned to the air. On Monday, Sept. 22, the Walt Disney Company confirmed that the show would resume on Sept. 23.

“Last Wednesday, 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,” the statement said, referring to Kimmel’s Sept. 15 remarks about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

“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.”

Kimmel’s choice to post about Lear is notable, given the TV icon was famously outspoken against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) during his career.

In 1976, following the FCC’s nationwide “family viewing time” ruling—which mandated that programming between 7-9 p.m. ET be suitable for all audiences—Lear and other prominent figures co-signed a lawsuit against the government organization.

The case, brought by Lear and the Writers Guild of America, succeeded in protecting freedom of speech, as a California District Court ruled that the “family viewing time” policy violated the First Amendment.

Kimmel has recently faced criticism from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr following his Sept. 15 monologue.

“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,” Kimmel said. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”

“On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this,” he continued, as a clip showed President Donald Trump, 79, answering reporters after the shooting. When asked how he was holding up, Trump replied, “I think very good, and by the way, right there where you see all the trucks, they just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House.”

Trump added that the new ballroom would “be a beauty.” Kimmel quipped, “Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief, construction.”

In the wake of Kirk’s murder, Kimmel offered condolences 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.”

During an interview on Benny Johnson’s podcast, Carr called Kimmel’s comments “truly sick” and said the FCC had a “strong case” to hold the host and his network accountable if no action was taken.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “There are calls for Kimmel to be fired. I think you could certainly see a path forward for suspension over this.”

Carr also addressed individual ABC affiliates nationwide, urging them to take responsibility as well.

Kimmel’s show was pulled from the air indefinitely on Sept. 17, confirmed by an ABC spokesperson. Both Nexstar and Sinclair, the largest ABC affiliate groups, announced they would preempt the show on their stations. Even after the show’s return, both groups said they would continue preempting the broadcast.

Amid Trump’s state visit to the U.K. on Sept. 18, he criticized Kimmel’s hiatus, calling it effectively a firing.

“Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else and he said a horrible thing about a great man named Charlie Kirk,” Trump said. “Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person, he had very bad ratings, and they should have fired him a long time ago.”

“You can call that free speech or not,” Trump continued. “He was fired for lack of talent.”

Lear, meanwhile, was famously on President Richard Nixon’s “enemies list” from 1969 to 1974. In a 2016 Democracy Now! interview, Lear reflected on the experience with characteristic humor.

“I think I just got lucky,” Lear said of his spot on Nixon’s enemies list. “Well, he’s on tape… talking about ‘that show that makes fun of a good man.’ Those were his words. He was talking about Archie Bunker [from All in the Family] … And he was talking about — that we were lauding homosexuality and homosexuality brought down the Greek empire… It was Nixon at his Trump-ish.”