Stephen Colbert mocks his bosses at CBS, claims to be ‘the only martyr in late-night’ after Jimmy Kimmel’s return

If you’ve been keeping up with late-night television, you might have heard that Disney briefly suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s show following some controversial comments he made about the alleged assassin of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. It looks like Jimmy Kimmel Live is back on the air, and Stephen Colbert, host of The Late Show, had some thoughts about it.

Colbert held up the Emmy Award his show had recently won and said, “You know, I’m so happy for them. Plus, now that Jimmy’s not being canceled, I get to enjoy this again”. He followed that up with his witty comment about being the “only martyr in late-night”. The whole situation began last week when Kimmel made remarks about the suspect in the Kirk assassination, implying that the administration wanted to make him seem less like a MAGA member.

This sparked a major outrage among conservatives, and two of ABC’s major affiliate owners decided to pull the show from their stations. According to reports, Kimmel refused to apologize, leading Disney to suspend the show temporarily. Trump was happy, so I doubt this is the end of this saga.

Colbert is happy to see Kimmel back

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Disney spokesperson said they made the decision to suspend the show to “avoid further inflaming a tense situation”. They also added that they felt Kimmel’s comments were “ill-timed and thus insensitive”. However, after having “thoughtful conversations with Jimmy,” the company reached a decision to bring the show back. While Kimmel’s suspension caused an uproar among liberals, who claimed it was a free speech issue, Disney’s quick turnaround seems to have smoothed things over.

Colbert didn’t stop there. He also took the opportunity to take a jab at his own network, CBS. He said, “Wait. Unless, CBS, you want to announce anything? Huh? Still no? Right, because of the money thing, I forgot”. This comment is a clear reference to the fact that his long-time role as host of The Late Show is set to end in May 2026, a decision CBS claims is “purely” financial. This is a move that has been criticized by Colbert and others, especially since it came after Paramount’s settlement with Donald Trump over a 60 Minutes lawsuit.

The settlement, which was seen by some as an attempt to appease the Trump administration, came ahead of Paramount’s $8 billion merger with Skydance. Colbert has been known to repeatedly mock the merger on his show, and this latest comment just adds another layer to that.