Robert De Niro Jokes About FCC Threatening Jimmy Kimmel with Baseball Bat

Actor Robert De Niro made a comedic appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Wednesday, stepping onto the stage with a baseball bat and playfully prodding host Jimmy Kimmel while impersonating FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. The skit was framed within Kimmel's ongoing public jabs at the Federal Communications Commission.

During the segment, Kimmel referenced a previous "unexpected FCC vacation week" and stated that the threats from the FCC had not improved. De Niro then entered, adopting the persona of Carr, and questioned Kimmel, "Am I threatening you? Do you feel threatened by me?"

Kimmel referenced comments about President Donald Trump, asking De Niro if he had made them. De Niro, in character, responded with mock aggression, telling Kimmel, "You speak when I tell you to speak, and otherwise you shut the f--- up." De Niro then appeared to slap Kimmel.

Kimmel responded by asking if the performance was funny, to which De Niro replied, "You’re doing it again! Am I going to have to tie your d--- to a bag of doorknobs and kick you down the stairs?"

The White House issued a statement through spokesman Davis Ingle, calling De Niro a "washed-up has-been" and accusing him of "spewing hate speech and inciting violence." The statement also referred to De Niro's perceived animosity as a "debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome."

Kimmel had previously alluded to FCC threats upon his return to hosting the show on September 8 after a summer hiatus, noting that the show was airing its 4,000th episode. He remarked, "We are still here." He also referenced that the White House believed it was "too many shows."

Radio host Howard Stern also addressed the situation on Tuesday, warning ABC that "hell to pay" would ensue if anything negative happened to Kimmel's show. The FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.