Megyn Kelly criticized Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late-night television following his suspension, mocking his emotional monologue and revisiting his blackface controversies while contrasting them with her own firing from NBC.
Kelly took to X on Wednesday to slam Kimmel’s past silence during her scandal, writing: “Remember when I was cancelled & held back tears on the air & Kimmel stood up for me, saying ‘All she did was ask a Q about blackface Halloween costumes, whereas I, Jimmy, have actually worn blackface many times & still have a show! This is wrong!’ Me neither. F him & his self-pity.”
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Remember when I was cancelled & held back tears on the air & Kimmel stood up for me saying “All she did was ask a Q about blackface Halloween costumes, whereas I, Jimmy, have actually worn blackface many times & still have a show! This is wrong!”
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) September 24, 2025
Me neither. F him & his self pity
Her post reignited scrutiny over Kimmel’s history with blackface, which included impersonations of celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and Karl Malone during his run on Comedy Central’s The Man Show.
A resurfaced clip of Kimmel dressed as Malone went viral in 2020, prompting the host to issue an apology.
Jimmy Kimmel cancelled people for being Unvaccinated…
— Liz Churchill (@liz_churchill10) September 20, 2025
Jimmy Kimmel cancelled people for being racist…
Jimmy Kimmel in full-blown blackface who MOCKED former NBA player Karl Malone, a marginalized African American. pic.twitter.com/wr9AG3ErZV
Kelly’s criticism comes years after she defended the use of such makeup in Halloween costumes during a 2018 broadcast of Megyn Kelly Today.
Al Roker on Megyn Kelly’s blackface apology: “While she apologized to the staff, she owes a bigger apology to folks of color around the country because this is a history going back to the 1830s. Minstrel shows to demean and denigrate a race wasn’t right.” pic.twitter.com/nt7YhCRU18
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) October 24, 2018
“But what is racist?” Kelly asked her audience at the time. “Truly, you do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface at Halloween or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween. Back when I was a kid, that was OK, as long as you were dressing up as, like, a character.”
Kelly issued a tearful apology to viewers and colleagues; however, her show was canceled by NBC.
Megyn Kelly offers a fulsome apology on her show today after saying that wearing "blackface" could be ok on Halloween
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) October 24, 2018
"I was wrong and I am sorry" pic.twitter.com/z0KRK5iHE1
Kimmel’s latest suspension stemmed from comments he made about Charlie Kirk’s murder, when he appeared to imply the shooter was aligned with MAGA conservatives.
“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,” Kimmel said in his September 16 monologue.
He returned to ABC on Tuesday after a weeklong suspension but offered no apology for the remarks, instead reflecting on free speech.
“This show is not important. What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this,” he told his audience.
That explanation was dismissed by Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of The Charlie Kirk Show and a spokesman for Turning Point USA, who said Kimmel’s response was “not good enough.” Kolvet wrote out the apology he believed was owed: “I’m sorry for saying the shooter was MAGA. He was not. He was on the Left. I apologize to the Kirk family for lying. Please accept my sincere apology. I will do better. I was wrong.”
KIMMEL DOESN’T APOLOGIZE, OFFERS CLARIFICATION ON CONTROVERSIAL REMARKS IN RETURN TO TALK SHOW
Kimmel’s critics, including Kelly, argue that his emotional return was more about self-preservation than accountability.
Meanwhile, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, and other notable commentators continue the nationwide tour that the late Charlie Kirk started, with several Republican lawmakers set to appear. Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk, Kirk’s widow, said her husband’s tour will continue after he was killed on Sept. 10.