Jimmy Kimmel’s celebrity peers, including his close friend Jennifer Aniston, shared their reactions to his big late-night TV return.

The presenter, aged 57, faced an ‘indefinite’ suspension from ABC last week following the FCC’s reprimand over remarks he made concerning the passing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

But, after days of ‘thoughtful conversations’ with Kimmel, ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would return to TV screens on Tuesday night.

Despite this, broadcasting groups Sinclair and Nexstar are persisting in their boycott of the late-night show, opting not to broadcast the latest episode on their ABC affiliate channels.

Aniston publicly backed Kimmel for the first time during the Kirk controversy, sharing her support on social media through her Instagram Story shortly after his return episode concluded.

The Friends star, 56, re-shared a photo from the official Jimmy Kimmel Live! Instagram page of Kimmel back at LA’s El Capitan Theater on Tuesday.

She added a red heart emoji to the post as a show of love.

Sources recently told Daily Mail that Aniston is ‘100 percent in [Kimmel’s] corner,’ but that her team had warned her that speaking out would invoke a huge backlash. 

It was a ‘very hard decision’ for the actress — who has been friends with Kimmel and his wife since 2012 — to make as she’s ‘not a person who holds back’ and often ‘speaks her mind,’ according to the insider. 

However, Aniston was among several A-list stars who recently signed an ACLU open letter condemning Kimmel’s suspension, calling it a ‘dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.’

Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx also spoke up on Tuesday night to react to Kimmel’s late-night return under one of the recent Jimmy Kimmel Live! Instagram posts.

The actor, 57, left three flam emojis under a photo of Kimmel walking around on set.

Fellow late-night host Stephen Colbert left a comment under the same post, which read: ‘Welcome back, brother! [red-heart emoji]’

Zoe Saldana shared a post in support of Kimmel several hours before he want on the air.

The actress, 47, put a ‘Love’ sticker over a photo of Kimmel hugging his longtime Live! sidekick, Guillermo Rodriguez, 54.

Kimmel fought back tears as he tried to explain his statement on the late Charlie Kirk as he opened Tuesday night’s episode. 

Melanie Griffith and Dave Bautista also showed love for Kimmel by leaving emojis under photos from Tuesday’s show taping on Instagram.

‘It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,’ he said, fighting back tears. ‘I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.’

He referenced his post to Instagram sending love to Kirk’s family and said he still does.

Kimmel then tried to explain what he said about the TPUSA founder but did not directly apologize.

He said it was not ‘my intention to blame any specific group for the actions what – it was obviously a deeply disturbed individual,’ he said.

‘That was really in the opposite of the point I was trying to make, but I understand that to some that felt either ill-timed or unclear, or maybe both. And for those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset. If the situation was reversed, there’s a good chance I’d have felt the same way.’

He also took on Donald Trump directly by branding him a humorless enemy of free speech.

‘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,’ Kimmel said.

‘He was able to squeeze Colbert out of CBS, then he turned his sights on me, and now he’s openly rooting for NBC to fire Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers and the hundreds of Americans who work for their shows who don’t make millions of dollars,’ he added.

‘And I hope that if that happens, or if there’s even any hint of that happening, you will be 10 times as loud as you were this week.’

The host thanked his fellow talk show hosts, fans and even conservatives who defended him.

He ended the monologue with praise for Charlie’s wife Erika Kirk for forgiving her husband’s suspected killer Tyler Robinson at Charlie’s funeral on Sunday.

‘She forgave him. That is an example we should follow,’ he said to applause.

‘If you believe in the teachings of Jesus, as I do, that’s it. A selfless act of grace, forgiveness from a grieving widow. It touched me deeply, I hope it touches many,’ he said, amid more tears.

‘And if there’s anything we can take from this tragedy to carry forward, it can be that and not this,’ he added, referencing the controversy.

Kimmel welcomed first guests back Glenn Powell – who said he was ‘honored’ and ‘glad’ the host was back – and singer Sarah McLachlan, who dropped out of a Disney event over the weekend in support of Kimmel.

Robert De Niro made a surprise cameo during the highly-anticipated episode just one day after he, the ACLU and other A-list stars signed an impassioned, open letter ‘in solidarity’ with the host.

Kimmel ended the show by joking: ‘I think we’ll be back tomorrow night, see you then.’ 

The longtime late-night host was booted off the air last week over his comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

The host said that ‘the MAGA gang’ was attempting to portray the suspect in Kirk’s killing ‘as anything other than one of them.’

ABC’s parent company, Disney, announced that it had suspended the show to ‘avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotionally charged moment for the country.’

According to Variety, ABC’s decision came after Nexstar Media, which operates dozens of affiliate stations across the country, threatened to drop Kimmel’s show from its programming lineup.

The dispute quickly became a flashpoint in the ongoing debate over free speech, political satire and the limits of late-night comedy.

But, after ‘having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy,’ ABC announced Jimmy Kimmel Live! would return to its airwaves on Tuesday.

Just hours before his TV return, Kimmel returned to social media for the first time since last week’s suspension.

The host took to Instagram to post a tribute that many fans saw as a subtle statement on the controversy surrounding his late-night program. 

‘Missing this guy today,’ Kimmel wrote alongside a photo of himself with legendary TV producer Norman Lear, who passed away at age 101 in December 2023.

Lear, best known for creating groundbreaking sitcoms such as All in the Family and The Jeffersons, was a staunch defender of free speech and the First Amendment.

He was also famously on Richard Nixon’s ‘enemies list’ during his presidency from 1969 to 1974.