Colbert, Kimmel, Oliver, Meyers and Fallon discuss Trump and Late-Night
Stephen Colbert hosted fellow frontmen Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver on Monday’s episode of “The Late Show.” The meeting of the minds was a farewell for Colbert as he enters his final days as the face of “The Late Show,” which goes off the air for good on May 21.
Midway through the joint interview, Colbert urged his guests to “make a case for late night,” as the genre has struggled in recent years. Kimmel was the first to go. He emphasized the power of the late-night fanbase, which he experienced firsthand when “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was briefly suspended.
“We have a lot of shows. We have 30,000 people watching each show, and that’s true,” Kimmel said. “People are watching us on YouTube now. People have a lot of different options and they keep coming to us. I’ll tell you, when I went off the air for a few days, people canceled Disney+. Why don’t people cancel Paramount+? Because you never had it in the first place?”
Colbert then asked the group another question. He asked his fellow hosts if, as young comedians, they ever thought they would be “doing a job that the President of the United States would have strong feelings about?”
Kimmel took the lead again, citing his recent feud with First Lady Melania Trump. He said, “You know what’s even weirder? Doing a job that his wife has strong feelings about.”
Meyers joked back, “Most of us have avoided that part.”
Oliver then recalled the moment he found out Kimmel was in trouble with the First Lady through their late-night group chat.
The “Last Week Tonight” host said with a laugh, “It’s amazing to get a text in a group text from Jimmy saying, ‘Oh, boy.’ And then a picture of Melania mad at him.”
Meyers then interjected again, saying that he likes it when President Donald Trump posts on Truth Social during his show because it means he’s tuning in live and that way he’s supporting the show.
“What I like, he posts when the show airs, and I want to say I appreciate him watching linear television,” Meyers said. “If I have to make my case late at night, it is that leaders of the free world watch it when it airs.”
CBS revealed it was canceling “The Late Show” in July 2025, calling the move a “financial decision.” However, some have speculated that Colbert was pulled to smooth over the merger between CBS’ parent company Paramount and David Ellison’s Skydance. At the time, the merger was still awaiting approval from the FCC, and by proxy from President Trump, an outspoken critic of Colbert and of late night as a whole.
Former “Late Show” host David Letterman, who will be among Colbert’s final guests, was one of the most vocal opponents of CBS’ decision. In a recent interview with New York Times journalist Jason Zinoman, Letterman denounced the network’s leadership as “lying weasels.”
“He was dumped because the people who sold the network to Skydance said, ‘Oh no, there won’t be any problems with that guy. We’re going to take care of the show. We’re just going to throw that into the deal. When will the ink be dry on the check?'” Letterman said. “I’m just going to go on the record: They’re lying. Let me add one more thing, Jason. They’re lying weasels.”
