Late-Night gets ‘poisoned’ after Colbert’s cancellation
Jimmy Kimmel has some thoughts on the supposed death of late-night television.
The “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host opened in a new interview with Vulture about the future of the genre after the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” on CBS and his own confrontations with Trump, including his suspension after comments about Charlie Kirk’s death.
“It makes me feel a little defeated,” Kimmel told Vulture after Colbert’s final episode aired on May 21. “In many ways I feel like I’m looking at my own future.”
CBS canceled “The Late Show” in July 2025 — a year before Colbert’s three-year deal was set to expire — citing “purely financial reasons” despite much speculation that Colbert’s anti-Trump views had something to do with it, especially with the Paramount-Skydance merger in the background. Although it was reported that Colbert’s show was losing $40 million a year, Kimmel told Vulture he finds that hard to believe, citing a 2023 New York Times article that claims Colbert was offered a five-year contract but decided to go for three.
“Am I to believe that over the course of those two years they suddenly started losing $40 million a year?” he said. “These are just made up numbers.”
Kimmel said ABC told him “very specifically” that his show is still profitable.
“There are many more people watching late-night TV than ever before, if you look at the number of views that I and my colleagues get online every day and add in our linear television ratings,” Kimmel claimed, adding: “We’re not just dying from natural causes. We’re being poisoned.”
However, Kimmel’s contract was extended in December for just one year instead of the standard three. “Everything is so tumultuous,” Kimmel told Vulture. “That seemed logical. It’s definitely not how things have gone in the past.”
When asked if he has thought about retirement, Kimmel said he is still unsure when his time will come. “It’s important for me to be responsible,” he said. “I know I could go out in a blaze of glory and get a lot of applause for it, but it would be a very selfish thing to do.”
That is, if he isn’t impeached first. Trump has repeatedly called for Kimmel’s firing, most recently when he made a joke about Melania Trump having “a glow like an expectant widow.” In that case and Kirk’s, Kimmel said he “had the truth on my side as my defense. What if I actually do something wrong? I mean, that’s inevitable.”
Of the president, Kimmel said, “I don’t love him. I don’t hate him either. I feel sorry for him. He obviously didn’t get hugged much.”
Read Kimmel’s full article Vulture profile here.
