Jimmy Kimmel has a lot to catch up on.
The comedian returned to his late-night show
on Tuesday, Sept. 8, after being off the air for more than two months for his annual summer break. His first monologue back aired hours after Page Six reported that this season of the show will be its last. ABC denied the report, calling it "inaccurate" and saying that "any reports about the future of the show at this point are purely speculative."Kimmel did not acknowledge the report in his Sept. 8 monologue, but he got reflective about the history of his show on the occasion of its 4,000th episode.
"It's a lot of shows. According to the White House, it's too many shows," he said. "This show premiered after the Super Bowl in January 2003. There are those who said we
would never last this long. There are even those who used the regulatory might of the FCC to unconstitutionally try to make sure we didn't last this long. But we did it the hard way, Brendan, and we're still here!"
Kimmel was referring to FCC chair Brendan Carr, who in 2025 pressured ABC to take action against the comedian over comments he made about the killing of Charlie Kirk, leading to Kimmel's temporary suspension.
Kimmel went on to jokingly declare that all of America's problems have been solved in the months since he went off the air, only to quickly realize this was not the case.
"Donald Trump and I have one thing in common: We both accomplished nothing all summer long," he said, going on to add that the president is "crazier than ever" after he "pumped out a gusher of AI-generated slop" on social media over the weekend. "It almost felt like he was welcoming me back to work."
Kimmel also made fun of President Donald Trump's "newest dumb idea" to change the name of New Mexico to "New America,"quipping, "Listen, if there was a New America, we'd all go there immediately."
"It's really hard to believe how much stupidity they manage to pump out day after day after day," he added. "I go away for one summer, he does enough crazy stuff to fill a whole 'We Didn't Start the Fire' parody song."
Later in the show, Kimmel sat down with guests Andrew Garfield and Joey King. On Wednesday, Sept. 9, he'll be joined by Mariska Hargitay and Kaia Gerber, while Gal Gadot is set to stop by on Thursday, Sept. 10.
Kimmel, who regularly takes an extended break during the summer, had been away from his late-night show since June 18. In his last monologue before the hiatus, he joked he would be "taking the next two months off – this time voluntarily," a reference to his temporary suspension in 2025.
A rotating series of guest hosts filled in for Kimmel over the summer while he was away. Rosie O'Donnell took over in August for a week of episodes, during which she referenced her long history of feuding with Trump. "If you thought the president hated 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' when it was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, buckle up, people," she quipped on Aug. 17.
Jelly Roll also took the stage to host a week of shows. After drawing some pushback online for his jokes poking fun at Trump, the country singer said on the show he was "just telling it like it is," and he clarified his political views.
"It is funny that before this week everybody thought I was MAGA. And now they think I'm some sort of liberal snowflake," he said. "Hosting Jimmy Kimmel's show doesn't mean I have all of Jimmy Kimmel's politics. Sure, I lean left on some things, but like most folks I'm pretty down the middle."
Ahead of his return to the air, Kimmel shared a carousel of photos on Instagram showing how he spent his summer break, including going fishing with his family and hanging out with David Letterman and Stephen Colbert. Colbert has advocated for Kimmel to win the Emmy for best variety series at the upcoming Sept. 14 ceremony.
Contributing: Taijuan Moorman
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jimmy Kimmel slams Trump in first monologue after report of his show ending
