Kimmel’s Relentless Mom Helped Him Cope During Suspension as Show Returns with Strong Ratings

Jimmy Kimmel's late-night program was briefly suspended after he referenced the death of Charlie Kirk during a monologue, prompting ABC to pull the show from the air. Disney later said the program would return on Tuesday, following pressure from Sinclair, the largest ABC affiliate group, which demanded an on-air apology to Kirk's family and a donation to Turning Point USA to keep the show afloat. Kimmel refused to apologize.

During the pause, Kimmel told guest Lisa Ann Walter that his mother Joann Iacono relentlessly cooked for him to help him cope. "My mom relentlessly kept making [food]," he said on Wednesday's episode. She joked about bringing pasta e fagioli, and he noted that she had even brought cookies with his face on them to the show.

Walter arrived with a welcome-back gift of homemade maccheroni alla pesarese. She described the dish as part of her plan to bring "things America loves the most" — a nice home-cooked meal and a sense of warmth — and she quipped that it could help him ease back into work.

The remarks about Kimmel's mom came as the suspension lingered and the show prepared for a return. In his first on-air monologue after the pause, he became emotional and said it was never his intention to make light of the murder of Charlie Kirk. Disney subsequently announced that the show would be back on the air Tuesday to support its staff. The first post-suspension episode drew 6.25 million viewers, the highest-rated regular installment since March 2015.

A few days after the suspension was announced, Disney confirmed the program's return for Tuesday night, with Kimmel reportedly returning to help his team. The show's return episode tallied 6.26 million total viewers, underscoring a strong rebound for the late-night staple.