“Jimmy Kimmel broke his silence on Tuesday night in an emotional return to ABC’s airwaves, by turns defiant, joking and somber as he addressed the controversy that temporarily sidelined his late-night show and set off a national debate over free speech,” the New York Times reports.

“His voice breaking at times, Mr. Kimmel said he understood why his comments last week about the suspected shooter of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk seemed ‘ill-timed, or unclear, or maybe both.’ He added, ‘It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.’”

“But Mr. Kimmel also had harsh words for President Trump and the government regulator who suggested that the Trump administration would punish ABC because of his remarks, saying that ‘a government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn’t like is anti-American.’”

Said Kimmel: “This show is not important. What’s important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”

CNN’s Jake Tapper claimed that the suspension of late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel was the “most direct infringement” on free speech by the “government” that he’s ever witnessed, Mediaite reports.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg notes Kimmel “took a conciliatory tone” in his return to TV Tuesday night, according to three people who attended the taping of his ABC show.