Related Articles
Sarah McLachlan helped welcome Jimmy Kimmel back to the airwaves Tuesday night with a performance of “Better Broken,” the title track from her new album.
McLachlan’s presence on Jimmy Kimmel Live! was especially apt: Last week, after ABC abruptly yanked Jimmy Kimmel Live! under pressure from the Trump administration, McLachlan canceled her performance at the Los Angeles premiere of the new documentary, Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery, which is being distributed by ABC News Studios. Along with McLachlan, Jewel also chose not to perform, and Olivia Rodrigo — who briefly appears in the doc — canceled her surprise appearance.
At the premiere, McLachlan was on hand to introduce the film, and while she didn’t mention Kimmel by name, she did make a pointed statement about free speech. “I’ve grappled with being here tonight and around what to say about the present situation that we are all faced with, the stark contraction to the many advances we’ve made, watching the insidious erosion of women’s rights, of trans and queer rights, the muzzling of free speech,” she said.
As for her performance on Kimmel last night, it simply found McLachlan performing the tender ballad solo at a piano. On social media, she shared a few photos from the evening and wrote, “So happy to be able to perform tonight on @JimmyKimmelLive! XoS #freespeech.”
Still, her emotional performance of “Better Broken” capped off an emotional show, which began with a nearly 30-minute monologue from Kimmel. As expected, the host addressed the controversy that got him pulled from the airwaves last week when conservatives took issue with a joke he made about Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer. Trump’s Federal Communications Commission chairman, Brendan Carr, called on licensed broadcasters to stop airing the show, and not long after, Nexstar and Sinclair — two giant media conglomerates that own a lot of ABC affiliates — said they would preempt his program. ABC made its decision to pull the show soon after.
Last night, Kimmel choked up as he said, “It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.” He added: “Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions — it was a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make, but I understand that to some, that felt 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 would have felt the same way.”
Still, he maintained a note of defiance, especially when discussing the issue of free speech and the government’s efforts to get his show pulled. “I barely paid attention in school, but one thing I did learn from Lenny Bruce and George Carlin and Howard Stern is that a government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn’t like is anti-American,” he said.
