Jimmy Kimmel on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Tuesday, Sept. 23.
Jimmy Kimmel on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

Jimmy Kimmel is looking back on the comments that led to his controversial ABC suspension.

During an Oct. 8 conversation at Bloomberg Screentime, the late-night host argued his remarks about the killing of Charlie Kirk, which prompted Disney-owned ABC to temporarily suspend his show, were deliberately misconstrued by his critics.

"It was intentionally, and I think maliciously, mischaracterized," he said Wednesday.

Kimmel went on to call the situation "very unfair to my bosses at Disney," adding, "I hope that we drew a really bold, red line as Americans about what we will and will not accept."

The comedian also said he "didn't think there was a big problem" with the comments at first, explaining, "I just saw it as distortion on the part of some of the right-wing media networks, and I aimed to correct it." But he noted the days between his suspension and return gave him time to "understand where everyone was coming from."

"I can sometimes be reactionary," he said. "I can sometimes be aggressive. I can sometimes be unpleasant. Having those days to think about it was helpful."

"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" was suspended at ABC in September after he said that "the MAGA gang" was "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."

Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, slammed Kimmel for the remarks and appeared to threaten ABC while calling for action to be taken against the comedian. Carr argued that Kimmel had mischaracterized the politics of Tyler Robinson, the suspect charged with killing Kirk.

The suspension sparked widespread outcry in the entertainment industry and accusations of government censorship. After a few days, Disney announced that Kimmel's show would return to ABC on Sept. 23. The company said it had suspended the show to "avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country" and 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," Disney said.

When Kimmel returned to the air, he said it was "never my intention to make light" of Kirk's murder or to "blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual," but "I understand that, to some, that felt either ill-timed or unclear, or maybe both."

Speaking at the Bloomberg event, Kimmel described his conversations with Disney executives about his suspension as "really good" and said his return "probably went about as well as it could go." But he reiterated that he initially expected that his show would not return after he was suspended.

"There seemed to be a list of demands presented to me, and I was not going to go along with any of them," he said. "I was like, 'Well, I guess we're done.' I said to my wife, 'That's it. It's over.'"

Sinclair Broadcast Group, which pulled Kimmel's show from its ABC affiliates, had called for the comedian to apologize to Kirk's family and make a personal donation to the family and to Kirk's organization, Turning Point USA.

Kimmel previously opened up about his suspension in an interview with Stephen Colbert on "The Late Show," during which he slammed President Donald Trump for celebrating his show being taken off the air.

"I never even imagined there would ever be a situation in which the president of our country was celebrating hundreds of Americans losing their jobs, somebody who took pleasure in that," Kimmel said. "That, to me, is the absolute opposite of what a leader of this country is supposed to be."

Contributing: Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jimmy Kimmel says his Charlie Kirk comments were 'maliciously' mischaracterized

Reporting by Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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