Stephen Colbert called out President Trump as an “autocrat” while defending Jimmy Kimmel after he was indefinitely suspended following his remarks about the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
ABC pulling Kimmel’s late-night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” came two months after Colbert announced in July that CBS canceled his show, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
“This is blatant censorship,” Colbert said during a taping of his show in New York City on Thursday, referring to Kimmel’s suspension. ”With an autocrat, you cannot give an inch.”
“If ABC thinks that this is going to satisfy the regime, they are woefully naive,” he added.
Colbert said: “Jimmy, I stand with you and your staff 100%.”
Kimmel’s suspension kicked off after he made comments about Kirk and Trump supporters during the Sept. 15 episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
During the episode, the late night host implied that Trump supporters are trying to take advantage of Kirk’s assassination following the arrest of 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, who was charged in the shooting. Kirk was fatally shot while speaking with students at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
“The MAGA gang [is] desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said.
ABC announced Wednesday that it would be pulling Kimmel’s show off the air following his comments about Kirk. Nexstar was the first to announce Wednesday that it would cease airing the late-night show for its ABC affiliates.
The news of the cancellation of Colbert’s show came just days after the talk show host publicly slammed CBS’ $16 million settlement with the Trump administration as a “big fat bribe.”
CBS agreed to the settlement after Trump filed a lawsuit over a “60 Minutes” interview with Harris that aired during the 2024 presidential election, which Trump alleged was deceptively edited.
The network said in a statement that their “agonizing decision” to cancel Colbert’s show was “purely a financial” one and is “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”
Meanwhile, Kimmel publicly showed support for Colbert after the comedian shared the news that his show will get axed in May 2026.
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“Love you Stephen,” Kimmel wrote in a July 17 Instagram Story alongside a clip of Colbert on the “Late Show.”
Kimmel then blasted CBS for its decision.
“Fuck you and all your Sheldons CBS,” he added.