Late-night talk show icons are stepping up to voice their support for Jimmy Kimmel following the indefinite suspension of his own show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Kimmel’s long-running show has been pulled indefinitely from the ABC network over the host’s recent comments following Charlie Kirk’s death, sparking worries around political censorship.
The right-wing activist was shot in the neck and killed at Utah Valley University campus on September 10, where he was hosting his first event as part of his America Comeback Tour. Kirk was 31 years old.
Following the shooting, Kimmel said during his Monday night monologue that all signs point to Kirk’s shooter being a Trump supporter: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterise this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Kimmel’s monologue drew a number of complaints from viewers, forcing Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr to seemingly threaten immediate action against Kimmel, the ABC network and its owner Disney for the comments. Nexstar, an affiliate of ABC, then said it would be pre-empting Jimmy Kimmel Live! episodes for the foreseeable future, prompting the ABC network to pull the show indefinitely.
Trump – who has recently been targeting talkshow hosts who oppose his MAGA movement – took to social media to celebrate, and later doubled down, saying: “Well, Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings, more than anything else. And he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk. Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person. He had very bad ratings, and they should have fired him a long time ago. So, you know, you could call that free speech or not. He was fired for lack of talent.”
The convicted felon and current President also suggested he was gunning for Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers to lose their jobs next.
Now, talkshow hosts Stephen Colbert and David Letterman have voiced their support for Kimmel. Colbert called Kimmel’s suspension “blatant censorship” during a taping of his own show on Thursday, per CNBC. “With an autocrat, you cannot give an inch,” Colbert added, “Jimmy, I stand with you and your staff 100%.”
Colbert’s own show is set to end next May, which CBS says is “purely a financial decision.” Some, however, believe the decision was motivated by a $16million settlement made by parent company Paramount to Trump over the editing of a 2024 interview with Kamala Harris on 60 Minutes. Just days before the cancellation was announced, Colbert branded the move a “big fat bribe”.
Trump would go on to celebrate Colbert’s show coming to an end and suggested that Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel were next, with Colbert saying that “the gloves are off” for the remainder of his time on air, and told the President to “go fuck yourself”.
David Letterman to Jeffrey Goldberg on Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension: “You can’t go around firing somebody because you’re fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian—a criminal—administration in the Oval Office. That’s just not how this works.” #TAF25 pic.twitter.com/yJxXOXjlj4
— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) September 18, 2025
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kimmel was set to address the matter on Wednesday night’s show before its suspension, but wasn’t going to apologise for his comments. He has yet to publicly comment on the show’s suspension.
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