“Where was the ‘I’m sorry?’ Where was the contrition?,” ‘Charlie Kirk Show’ executive producer Andrew Kolvet said a day after Kimmel’s return to his show

Jimmy Kimmel; Charlie Kirk.Credit : Tommaso Boddi/Getty; OLIVIER TOURON/AFP via Getty

Jimmy Kimmel is being called out by a member of Charlie Kirk’s team one day after making his return to late-night television.

On Tuesday, Sept. 23, Jimmy Kimmel Live! aired its first episode since being suspended nearly one week prior over comments the host made about the right-wing commentator’s death. The following day, a producer for The Charlie Kirk Show, Andrew Kolvet, reacted to Kimmel’s first monologue back during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s America’s Newsroom.

“What was lacking, in your view?” anchor Bill Hemmer asked, to which Kolvet replied: “Well, an apology, for one.”

“Where was the ‘I’m sorry?’ Where was the contrition?,” he continued. “Yes, he was emotional, but I think he was emotional because, A, he’s really good on camera, and, B — well, I wouldn’t say really good, maybe, but he’s used to it — and, B, because he’s been under the gun for the last couple of days. That’s what he’s emotional about. All he had to do was say, simply: ‘I’m sorry, I won’t do it again, I will do better.’”

Charlie Kirk; Jimmy Kimmel; Andrew Kolvet.Nordin Catic/Getty; Robin L Marshall/Getty; AP Photo/John Locher

Kimmel’s talk show was pulled “indefinitely” by Disney’s ABC on Sept. 17 in the aftermath of a segment in which he spoke about Kirk’s Sept. 10 assassination, where he was fatally shot at the age of 31 during an event at Utah Valley University.

“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 part during the Sept. 15 episode of Live!. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”

Kimmel’s show was reinstated on Sept. 23, and he addressed his comments in his opening monologue the next day.

“It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” he began as he teared up. “I don’t think there’s anything funny about it, nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make. For those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset. If the situation was reversed, there was a good chance I’d have felt the same way.”

He further referenced the statement he put out shortly after Kirk’s death, where he said it was “horrible and monstrous to shoot another human” and sent his condolences “to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.”

Jimmy Kimmel.Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty

“I posted a message on Instagram on the day he was killed, sending love to his family and asking for compassion — and I meant it; I still do,” Kimmel said on Sept. 23.

Kolvet slammed Kimmel’s response for being “defiant” and claimed “he parsed his words” and “tried to thread a needle and play both sides.” He went on to say that Kimmel should have told his audience, “This is not okay, I won’t do it again, and for anybody else out there thinking about doing violence, political violence, stop, it’s not okay.”

“When somebody like Jimmy Kimmel says that the shooter was — of Charlie — was MAGA, what he’s really saying is that it’s okay to lie about conservatives, that their lives don’t matter, that his agenda, his political agenda and cultural agenda is more important than the life of my friend who was just taken from us and robbed from us,” Kolvet said earlier.

In his Sept. 23 monologue, Kimmel recognized the importance of separating politics and violence.

“I have many friends and family members on the other side who I love and remain close to, even though we don’t agree on politics at all,” he shared. “I don’t think the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk represents anyone. This was a sick person who believed violence was a solution, and it isn’t, ever.”

Kolvet further said that Kimmel should have directly apologized to the Kirk family, including Charlie’s wife, Erika Kirk.

Kimmel addressed Erika in his speech by saying, “Erika Kirk forgave the man who shot her husband. She forgave him. That is an example we should follow.”

While Kolvet acknowledged that “I agree with” Kimmel that Erika’s “model for the nation is the model that we must and have to follow,” he maintained the comedian wasn’t taking full responsibility for what he said.

“Yes, I can forgive Jimmy Kimmel for what he did,” Kolvet stated. “I still want him to own it and be accountable to the audience, to the country, because it matters. It matters, Bill, because what it says is, ‘What I did was not okay, what happened was not okay and please forgive me.’ And that’s what we need. If you’re going to get restoration and reconciliation as a nation, healing as a nation, the people that do wrong need to own it.”

Despite news of Live!’s return, two of the largest broadcasting companies, Nexstar and Sinclair, announced that they will continue preempting the show on their affiliate stations.