Jimmy Kimmel is back on set for ABC.
The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host was slated to return in person for his second season of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, after not having been in the studio for more than five months, Deadline reported on Monday.
Kimmel had last recorded episodes of the game show on March 14 sans an audience at the beginning of the national shutdown amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Back on the job: Jimmy Kimmel was slated to return in person for his second season of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, after not having been in the studio for more than five months
The Sony-produced game show, which airs Sundays, is implementing strict social distancing and health statutes in accordance with guidelines set forth by both state and local officials in addition to union protocols.
Kimmel is returning to the show for the second season after celeb guests including Anderson Cooper, Eric Stonestreet and Kaitlin Olson appeared on the first season of the reboot.
ABC exec Rob Mills told the outlet that the show’s reboot has gone smoothly to date.
‘We got in under the wire and it turned out great,’ he said. ‘When this was originally pitched by Michael Davies, he came in and said this was what it was always meant to be, short term events that get people excited and it goes away and people miss it.’
Kimmel had last recorded episodes of the game show on March 14 sans an audience at the beginning of the national shutdown amid the coronavirus pandemic
The network is also bringing back into production other shows such as The Bachelorettes, Supermarket Sweep and Card Sharks.
Kimmel makes his return to the set about two months after DailyMail.com reported he fled LA for a secret location likely in an attempt to avoid backlash after photos reemerged of him doing skits while in blackface.
He was also under fire after being caught using the n-word repeatedly while imitating rapper Snoop Dogg in newly unearthed audio that dates from 1996.
In the song, Kimmel can be heard rapping: ‘Me and my n***er down in LBC, we’ll smoke that motherf***er Christmas tree.’
The track repeats the racial slur several times, including ‘fat n***er in a sleigh giving sh*t away’ and also ‘n***er in the manger.’
Jimmy had come under fire for wearing blackface in TV sketches dating back to the 90s in which he impersonated the likes of NBA player Karl Malone and Oprah Winfrey.
In the middle of last month: Jimmy made the announcement of his impending departure from the show which bears his name, insisting that ‘there’s noting wrong, I just need a couple of months off’
Funny and a touch distracting: Kimmel enlisted the help of his friend Matt Damon in the comedic clip, which made no acknowledgement of his previous gaffes
On June 23, Kimmel finally apologized in a video message in which the skits were described as ’embarrassing’ and he claimed to have ‘evolved and matured’ over the last 20 years.
He added: ‘There is nothing more important to me than your respect, and I apologize to those who were genuinely hurt or offended by the makeup I wore or the words I spoke.
‘I believe that I have evolved and matured over the last twenty-plus years, and I hope that is evident to anyone who watches my show.
‘I know that this will not be the last I hear of this and that it will be used again to try to quiet me. I love this country too much to allow that.
‘I won’t be bullied into silence by those who feign outrage to advance their oppressive and genuinely racist agendas.’
Friends of the father-of-four said he left town in a bid to avoid the scandal and is hoping his apology will see him left alone.
A source told DailyMail.com: ‘Jimmy said he is getting out of town to duck this s***. He just wants to be left alone with his family.’
Mistake: Jimmy had come under fire for wearing blackface in TV sketches dating back to the 90s in which he impersonated the likes of Snoop Dogg, the NBA’s Karl Malone and Oprah Winfrey (pictured, from Comedy Central)
A representative for Kimmel insisted that the break is a vacation planned well in advance and added that he also intends to take the next two summers off to spend time with his family.
Kimmel had come under increasing pressure to apologize after fellow comedian Jimmy Fallon issued a mea culpa on June 2nd after footage emerged of him in blackface while impersonating Chris Rock for an SNL skit in 2000.
In a statement issued via Twitter, Fallon, 45, said: ‘In 2000, while on SNL, I made a terrible decision to do an impersonation of Chris Rock while in blackface.
‘There is no excuse for this. I am very sorry for making this unquestionably offensive decision and thank all of you for holding me accountable.’
Until his June 23rd video message, Kimmel had resisted pressure to apologize for his own skits.
He and his family are currently holed up in a luxury location outside of LA for a summer vacation, which Kimmel claimed had been planned long before the race storm broke.
However, DailyMail.com can reveal that Kimmel has been under pressure to apologize for his blackface past for more than a year, with singer Nick Cannon repeatedly calling the comedian out on social media from February 2019 and inviting him to talk.
In a post on February 9th 2019 that tagged Fallon and Kimmel and included video of them dressed in blackface, he said: ‘You know I’m always on the side of the comedian and never pander to the sensitive, but I feel there needs to be some ‘truth & reconciliation’ discussions and teachable moments amongst our communities.
Hot water: Until his June 23rd video message, Kimmel had resisted pressure to apologize for his own skits