The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host will make his return to the air for the first time in nearly a week after his show was suspended by ABC and Disney

hile network affiliates like Nexstar and Sinclair battle over Jimmy Kimmel Live!’s return to the air tonight, September 23, the late night host took to social media to share his own first statement on the matter, albeit a seemingly innocuous one. Jimmy Kimmel took to his Instagram page with his very first photo since his show was taken off the air “indefinitely” last week after comments made about the death of right wing influencer and Trump administration aide Charlie Kirk.

The 57-year-old TV personality shared a throwback of himself with the late great Norman Lear, simply captioning it: “Missing this guy today,” quickly receiving likes from famous supporters like Jennifer Aniston and supportive comments from fans and friends alike, including Rosie O’Donnell writing: “Kill it tonight – feel all the love.”

Others responded with: “You’re a good man Jimmy, will be watching tonight,” and: “Tonight is the night to drop the mic Jimmy!” as well as: “Hopefully tonight’s ratings hits an all time high,” plus: “Team Jimmy!!! You helped us prove that our voices (MONEY) matter! Best of luck tonight Jimmy!!!”

After Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended for nearly a week, on Monday, ABC and parent company Walt Disney released a statement confirming that he in fact will be back. “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.”

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Jimmy Kimmel shared his first social media post since his show’s suspension, a tribute to Norman Lear

“It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive,” it continued. “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.”

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The TV host will finally return with his talk show tonight

However, several ABC affiliate stations are blocking the telecast of the show tonight, including Nexstar, Sinclair and Tegna, which will impact millions of Americans nationwide. Their resulting statements have called for Jimmy to issue an apology to Charlie’s family. “We stand by that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve,” Nexstar’s statement added.

“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was suspended for nearly a week following his comments on Charlie Kirk

To recap, on September 15’s show, in response to Charlie’s death and two days before his show was cancelled, Jimmy 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…”

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The talk show host has kept a low profile in the past few days

“And in between the finger pointing, there was grieving on Friday. The White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level you can see how hard the president is taking this.” The show then cut to a clip of President Donald Trump deflecting a question on his death and instead discussing the new multi-million bathroom being built at the White House. “It’s going to be a beauty,” he quipped.