Jimmy Kimmel tears up as he apologises for Charlie Kirk comments on return to show

The show resumed last night.

The show was taken off air indefinitely after comments the late-night TV show host made about right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk following his death.

Charlie Kirk died on 10 September after he was shot in the neck during an event at a Utah university.

The decision was made after Kimmel said that the "Maga gang" was trying to score political points off the assassination of Kirk.

The comments which prompted the show to be pulled were: "The Maga Gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it."

He further criticised flags being flown at half mast for Kirk while also mocking Trump's reaction to the shooting.

Kimmel said: "This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish."

Speaking on his show last night, Kimmel apologised for his comments, saying: "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 said: "Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual.

"That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make."

Kimmel, almost in tears, said that he understood why the remarks 'felt either ill-times or unclear, or maybe both'.

Later on in the show, Kimmel said that Trump 'did his best to cancel me' but 'instead, forced millions of people to watch the show'.

He said: "The President of the United States made it very clear he wants to see me and the hundreds of people who work here fired from our jobs. Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke."