After almost a week off the air, Jimmy Kimmel Live! made its return to ABC on Monday night.
The late-night show, which is based in Hollywood, paused production because of the Los Angeles wildfires that have been burning since Jan. 7.
In his first monologue back, host Jimmy Kimmel was overcome with emotion.
“It’s been a very scary, very stressful, very strange week in L.A., where we work, where we live, where our kids go to school,” the late-night host said as his eyes filled with tears.
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Kimmel didn’t say which neighborhood he calls home, but he told the audience he was among those forced to evacuate.
“Many of us had to leave our homes in a hurry. Some of our co-workers lost their homes. It’s been terrible,” he explained.
“Everyone who lives in this city knows someone – most of us, multiple people, family, friends, colleagues, neighbors — whose houses have burned down,” Kimmel said as his voice broke. “And the truth is, we don’t even know if it’s over. We had 100mph winds fueling this nightmare. And as of tonight, [the] winds are back.”
Kimmel went on to praise the only good to come out of the disaster — people supporting each other.
“I think I speak for all of us when I say it’s been a sickening, shocking, awful experience,” he said. “But it’s also been, in a lot of ways, a beautiful experience because, once again, we see our fellow men and women coming together to support each other. People who lost their own homes are out volunteering in parking lots for others who lost theirs.”
The comedian also called out President-elect Donald Trump because of his past negative comments about how the fire has been handled.
“Tonight, I don’t want to get into all the vile and irresponsible and stupid things our alleged future president and his gaggle of scumbags chose to say during our darkest and most terrifying hour,” Kimmel said.
He added, “The fact that he chose to attack our firefighters who apparently aren’t white enough to be out there risking their lives on our behalf — it’s disgusting but not surprising. Instead, I want to focus on thanking those men and women, because that’s [what] we all should be doing right now.”
Guests for the return episode included Snoop Dogg, Roy Wood Jr., and musical guest Dawes.
Below is the full monologue from Jimmy Kimmel:
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