HOLLYWOOD, United States (AFP)—Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel had his biggest audience in a decade when he returned to US TV screens a week after pressure from Donald Trump’s government saw him forced off the air, Disney said Wednesday.

The comedian was benched by the entertainment giant’s ABC network after officials threatened to yank broadcast licenses, purportedly over comments Kimmel made in the wake of the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.

But after a public outcry and complaints from usually reliable Trump allies that this was a government attempt to chill free speech, the suspension was reversed and Kimmel was back on the air on Tuesday, delivering a biting monologue attacking censorship.

“A government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn’t like is anti-American,” Kimmel told viewers.

“The president of the United States made it very clear he wants to see me and the hundreds of people who work here fired from our jobs. Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke.”

Early figures showed more than six million people tuned in to the broadcast, even as the show remained unavailable to almost a quarter of American households because of a boycott by companies that own local TV stations, Disney said.

By comparison, “Jimmy Kimmel Live” drew an average of 1.42 million viewers across its full 2024/2025 season — meaning the audience increased more than threefold Tuesday.

It was the show’s best performance in 10 years, Disney added. A further 26 million people watched Tuesday’s monologue on social media, it said.

Trump, who frequently complains about negative media coverage and regularly targets Kimmel and other late-night comedians with invective, had celebrated when he was taken off the air, calling it “Great news for America.”

Before the show’s return, Trump told reporters Kimmel had “no talent… he had no ratings.”

“Well,” quipped Kimmel on Tuesday night’s show. “I do tonight.”

“He tried did his best to cancel me. Instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show. That backfired bigly,” he added to wild studio applause.