Jimmy Kimmel Says His Mom Cooked for Him ‘Relentlessly’ During His Suspension, and Made a Special Treat for His Return Show

Jimmy Kimmel reveals he got some motherly care while he was off the air.

On the second night of Jimmy Kimmel Live!’s return, the 57-year-old late night host revealed that his mother, Joan, kept him well-fed while his show went on a hiatus amid controversy over his comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

“My mom relentlessly kept making [food], she’s like, ‘Can I bring over some pasta fazool? Can I make—’ She brought cookies with my face on them to the show last night,” Kimmel said.

He made the remark after guest Lisa Ann Walter brought him “macaroni alla pescorace” to eat as a welcome back gift. She joked that it was part of her “plan” to bring “things America loves the most,” which included a “nice home cooked meal and a great rack.”

The late night host returned to television on Tuesday, Sept. 23, six days after ABC announced that it was pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live! was off the air “indefinitely.” During his opening monologue after returning, he acknowledged his previous comments that led to the suspension in an emotional moment during the broadcast.

TV host Jimmy Kimmel (C) and his mother Joan Kimmel in 2015.Paul Redmond/Getty

“I do wanna make something clear, because it’s important to me as a human, and that is, you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” an emotional Kimmel said, referencing Kirk’s assassination. “I don’t, I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”

“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 and I still do,” he continued. “Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what it was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make.”

He concluded his monologue addressing the importance of free speech, saying, “If we don’t have free speech, then we just don’t have a free country. It’s as simple as that.”

Prior to his return, Disney said in a statement to PEOPLE that it made the “decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country.”

The company continued, “It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”

Jimmy Kimmel on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’.Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty

While the show has returned to a majority of ABC channels, it still is not being aired on the 32 ABC-affiliated stations owned by Nexstar Media, as the company continues what it calls “productive discussions” with Disney executives following the late-night show’s return to ABC.

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On Wednesday, Sept. 24, Nexstar (the largest local TV broadcasting and media company in the U.S.) shared in a statement that it is “continuing to evaluate the status” of the program, and will not be airing forthcoming episodes of Jimmy Kimmel’s program as it continues to do so.

“Nexstar is continuing to evaluate the status of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on our ABC-affiliated local television stations, and the show will be preempted while we do so,” the statement read.

“We are engaged in productive discussions with executives at The Walt Disney Company, with a focus on ensuring the program reflects and respects the diverse interests of the communities we serve,” the company added.

Broadcasting company Sinclair, which makes up the nation’s largest ABC affiliate group, also announced on Sept. 23 that it wouldn’t broadcast Jimmy Kimmel Live!