How Jimmy Kimmel’s Mom Came to the Rescue After ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Suspension

Jimmy Kimmel had mom Joann Iacono’s support while his show was suspended from ABC.

“My mom relentlessly kept making [food],” Kimmel told guest Lisa Ann Walter on the Wednesday, September 24, episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! “She’s like, ‘Can I bring over some pasta e fagioli?’ She brought cookies with my face on them to the show last night.”

Walter, 62, also showered Kimmel with food, bringing him a gift of homemade maccheroni alla pesarese. Walter quipped her “plan” was to bring things “Americans love the most” including a “nice home-cooked meal and a great rack.”

“I figured you were out of work for a few days, you might need some food,” Walter joked. “I like to help.”

Kimmel returned to his show on Tuesday, September 23, after he was temporarily suspended following comments about conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, accused killer Tyler Robinson and President Donald Trump’s reaction to Kirk’s death. (Kirk died at age 31 after he was shot at a Utah Valley University event on September 10.)

An ABC spokesperson confirmed to Us Weekly on September 17 that Live! would be “preempted indefinitely.” The show was then taken off the air for six days.

Ahead of Kimmel’s suspension, Nexstar Media, which owns multiple TV stations, reportedly threatened to axe Kimmel’s show from the lineup. The company told Variety in a statement that they “strongly” objected to “recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk.” Us reached out to Kimmel for comment at the time.

Amid backlash from fans and celebrities — which included a letter signed by 400 stars — the Walt Disney Company announced the show would be brought back less than one week after it was taken off air.

“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,” the company told Us in a statement. “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.”

Despite Kimmel returning with a new episode on Tuesday, Sinclair Broadcast Group maintained that Kimmel should apologize to Kirk’s family and “make a meaningful personal donation” to them and his nonprofit organization. The group has stated that it will continue preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across the 38 affiliate stations, with Nexstar following suit.

Kimmel did address the decision — and clarify his comments pertaining to Kirk — during his monologue in the Tuesday episode.

“I’ve been hearing a lot about what I need to do and say tonight, and the truth is, I don’t think what I have to say is going to make much of a difference,” he said. “If you like me, you like me, if you don’t, I have no illusions of changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make something clear because it’s important to me as a human: 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 continued, “I posted a message on Instagram on the day [Charlie] was killed sending my love to his family asking for compassion, and I meant it and I still do. Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was a deeply disturbed individual. That was actually the opposite of the point I was trying to make, but I understand to some that felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both.”

After discussing the importance of the First Amendment, Kimmel concluded his speech by reflecting on Charlie’s wife, Erika Kirk, who said she “forgives” her husband’s accused killer.

“There was a moment over the weekend, a very beautiful moment, I don’t know if you saw this — on Sunday, Erika Kirk forgave the man who shot her husband. She forgave him. That is an example we should follow,” he said. “If you believe in the teachings of Jesus, as I do, there it was. That’s it. A selfless act of grace, forgiveness from a grieving widow. It touched me deeply. And I hope it touches many, and if there’s anything we should take from this tragedy to carry forward, I hope it can be that. Not this.”