Jimmy Kimmel had Stephen Colbert’s back when CBS announced it was ending The Late Show. On Thursday, Colbert returned the favor.
“Tonight, we are all Jimmy Kimmel,” Colbert said to open his show.
“I stand with you and your staff 100 percent,” he added.
Don’t worry, there were jokes.
Citing a Rolling Stone report, Colbert read aloud that “some ABC executives were pissing themselves all day” about backlash to a Kimmel monologue quip from Monday’s show. “On the bright side, that proves it’s number one in streaming.”
With “pissing themselves” as the setup, ”number one” and “streaming” gave Colbert a rare two-punchlines-in-one joke.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended on Wednesday, two days after Kimmel mocked MAGA Republicans for scrambling to distance their own ideologies from those of Charlie Kirk’s alleged murderer, Tyler Robinson. In the days following Kirk’s murder, the left and the right were quick to point fingers at each other over Robinson’s perceived political leanings.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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.
That perceived mischaracterization of Robinson’s political leanings has those on the right, including President Trump, fuming. Sponsors and local ABC affiliates leaned on Disney to do something.
Read the inside story on how Kimmel’s Disney suspension was handed down here.
I want to thank Nexstar for doing the right thing.
Local broadcasters have an obligation to serve the public interest. While this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community… https://t.co/Px5boYbqNR
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) September 17, 2025
FCC chair Brendan Carr praised local broadcasters for preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday, encouraging them to push back on Disney programming that “they determine falls short of community values.”
“You know what my community values are, buster?” Colbert said on Thursday. “Freedom of speech.”
Cue raucous applause from the Ed Sullivan Theater audience.
Colbert’s crowd was also treated to the Late Show’s parody of Beauty & the Beast song “Be Our Guest.” Colbert’s version of the classic Disney song was appropriately called “Shut Your Trap.”
The cold open included lyrics like: “Mum’s the word/Have you heard?/Kissing ass is what’s preferred!”
And: “The new rule at ABC/Don’t make fun of Donny T.”
Colbert’s guests on Thursday’s show were CNN’s Jake Tapper and The New Yorker editor David Remnick. Both heavily criticized Trump for meddling and Disney for, as Tapper put it, “acquiescing” to power.