(NEXSTAR) – Jimmy Kimmel made his return to the late-night scene on Tuesday following a suspension lasting a week after comments he made regarding conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s passing.

As Kimmel entered the stage of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, he was met with a standing ovation from the audience. He then embarked on a monologue addressing his suspension, his supporters, and the comments that led to ABC and the Walt Disney Company pulling his show the previous week.

“I’ve heard plenty about what’s expected of me tonight,” Kimmel remarked. “Honestly, I doubt my words will change much. If you’re a fan, you’re a fan. If not, you’re not. I have no delusions about altering opinions.

“However, there’s something crucial I want to clarify for my own peace of mind, as a person. It was never my aim to minimize the tragedy involving a young man’s murder,” he continued with emotion.

“On the day he passed, I shared a message on Instagram, offering condolences to his family and urging compassion. I was sincere then, and I remain so now. I didn’t intend to hold any specific group accountable for the actions of what was clearly a very troubled individual. That was actually contrary to what I meant to express,” he added.

“Still, I recognize that, for some, it may have seemed poorly timed or vague, or perhaps both. For those who perceived it as pointing blame, I understand your frustration. If our roles were reversed, I might feel the same way.”

He later called Kirk’s shooter “a sick person who believed violence was a solution.”

“And it isn’t, ever.”

Kimmel also took jabs at President Trump and FCC Chair Brendan Carr during the monologue, criticizing Carr for putting pressure on companies to pull Kimmel’s show. But he thanked “the people who don’t support my show and what I believe, but support my right to share those beliefs anyway,” listing them as “Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Candace Owens, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, even my old pal Ted Cruz.” (Cruz, who admitted that he celebrated Kimmel’s suspension, said he ultimately believed the government should not be “in the business” of threatening to “ban you from the airwaves if you don’t say what [they] like.”)

Kimmel said during the monologue that he was “not happy” with ABC’s decision to remove him from the air, but thanked them for bringing him back on Tuesday “even though they didn’t have to.”

“This is a giant company. We have short attention spans, and I am a tiny part of the Disney Corporation. They welcomed me back on the air and I thank them for that. But unfortunately, and I think unjustly, this puts them at risk,” he said.

Kimmel also teared up again discussing Erika Kirk’s speech after her husband’s death.

“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.

“If you believe in the teachings of Jesus as I do, there it was. That’s, 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.”

ABC had suspended Kimmel’s show last Wednesday, after Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Media Group said they would be preempting his show over comments he made after Kirk’s death.

Most reports pointed to comments Kimmel made on Monday, Sept. 15, in which he said: “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.”

The next night, Kimmel said during his monologue that “Many in ‘MAGA land’ are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk,” citing remarks made by Vice President JD Vance.

The Walt Disney Company announced Monday, Sept. 22, that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would return the following day. Nexstar and Sinclair, meanwhile, continued to preempt the show in their ABC markets.