Jennifer Aniston, Monica Lewinsky And More Praise Jimmy Kimmel's Return To Late Night After ABC Suspension

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Lotta late night love out there, if not everywhere.

Jimmy Kimmel looking into camera during return to Jimmy Kimmel Live! post-suspension
(Image credit: ABC)

Late night's latest roller coaster ride has seemingly already come to an end, at least until the next massive drop gets revealed, with Jimmy Kimmel Live! returning to ABC less than a full week after the network suspended Kimmel and pulled his talk show off the air. Much about the ordeal has been shocking to both audiences and those in Hollywood, but it's not so shocking that many of Kimmel's supporters shared love for the comedian to celebrate his return, including famed friends such as Jennifer Aniston and Ben Stiller.

But let's start off with one of the more unexpected, and yet totally logical and on point, reactions to Kimmel taking the late night spotlight back, from none other than Monica Lewinsky. She knows a thing or two about making headlines in relation to controversial situations involving a current president. As she shared on Instagram:

Welcome back, kimmel… ❤️

Gotta love that positivity, not to mention how far Lewinsky has come in her life and career since the '90s.

Jennifer Aniston shared Jimmy Kimmel Live!'s first behind-the-scenes pic in a week, while Simon Pegg took to Instagram Stories sharing a video the late night staple posted of other news anchors talking about his return.

Jennifer Aniston and Simon Pegg's Stories posts about Jimmy Kimmel returning to ABC

(Image credit: Instagram)

Similar to the outpouring of positivity and kind messages accompanying his first public post since the suspension, lots of celebs were in full support of Kimmel getting back into the flow of things, and praising him and the rest of the show's team for handling it all with poise and as much respect as one could hope for.

Check out some of those reactions below from stars like Walton Goggins and Kimmel's friendly late night rival Stephen Colbert, who received quite a bit of support from Kimmel after his own network-related issues. (I.e. The Late Show getting canceled altogether.)

Comedian Deon Cole brought up the mega-kerfuffle with Conan O'Brien with his own response, as seen below, along with several other celebs' reactions.

In the immediate aftermath of the suspension, a lot of fans reportedly took it upon themselves to cancel Disney+ and Hulu in protest. While the exact changes in customer numbers will likely always be a mystery to audiences, Disney's stock did falter in the aftermath, and the fact that ABC's reversed the suspension so quickly has caused many to think that all the sub cancellations had an impact behind the scenes.

Jimmy Kimmel surprised audiences by talking to Robert De Niro during the opening monologue, as well as thanking his sometimes rival Ted Cruz for speaking up. The host got a bit choked up when addressing how the wife of Charlie Kirk has handled things in the aftermath of his murder. But after the monologue, the show continued without making the suspension a sticking point, with Glen Powell promoting Chad Powers and Sarah McLachlan

Though it's obvious not everyone is going to be on the same side here, the majority of non-hyperbolic responses online seem to be positive in nature, and even some who don't agree with Kimmel's politics at all were willing to offer olive branches to say that it was a respectful return.

For the foreseeable future, Jimmy Kimmel Live! is back to airing weeknights on ABC at 11:35 p.m. ET.

Nick Venable
Nick Venable
Assistant Managing Editor

Nick is a Cajun Country native and an Assistant Managing Editor with a focus on TV and features. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper.  Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era and covering topics like Yellowstone, The Walking Dead and horror. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. If you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy.



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