Jimmy Kimmel opened up in an interview with Variety about his three Primetime Emmy nominations and how he plans to fight back over Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show cancellation.
“Well, it seems like voting for Stephen is the least we could do at this point, and I think it will be a nice statement if he does win,” said the host.
Kimmel has posted a billboard in Santa Monica and La Cienega declaring his vote for host and friend, Colbert.
“Obviously, awards don’t mean much, but every once in a while they do, and in this case, I think it will. So I fully expect Stephen to win the Emmy as I think people are very, very upset about what happened to him and his show,” he added.
Back in July, CBS announced its plans to end The Late Show after the next TV season, citing it was due to “financial decisions.”
The end of the late-night show comes after the merger between Paramount and Skydance Studios, with inside analysts claiming it also has political ties.
Colbert previously criticized CBS’s parent company, Paramount, over a $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump. As well as Skydance Studios’ David Ellison projecting an interest in Trump’s politics.
In response to The Late Show‘s cancellation and decline of late-night talk shows, Kimmel calls it “beyond nonsensical” over claims that the show was losing $40 million a year.
“There’s just not a snowball’s chance in hell that that’s anywhere near accurate. Even that — that’s all you need to know,” he explained.
“Suddenly he’s losing $40 million a year? I will tell you, the first 10 years I did the show, they claimed we weren’t making any money — and we had five times as many viewers on ABC as we do now. Who knows what’s true? All I know is they keep paying us — and that’s kind of all you need to know.”
Kimmel urges audiences to vote for Colbert, stating, “He’s not just a sweet man. He is very moral — he’s a very ethical person. He is the salt of the earth.”
“He is a humble person and an extremely smart person. I hope that whatever he does next is even more powerful than what he’d been doing. And I think that’s very possible.”
The Late Show‘s final episode is scheduled to air in May 2026.
