Stephen Colbert is welcoming his pal Jimmy Kimmel back to late-night.
On the Sept. 22 episode of “The Late Show,” the comedian reacted to news that ABC is ending Kimmel’s suspension and bringing his show back to the air this week.
“Our long, national late-nightmare is over,” Colbert declared.
When Colbert announced news of Kimmel’s return, his studio audience erupted in cheers. He described the lifting of Kimmel’s suspension as “wonderful news for my dear friend Jimmy and his amazing staff.”
Colbert also continued a bit from his Sept. 18 monologue, where he acted like he was upset that the Kimmel controversy was overshadowing news of “The Late Show” winning an Emmy for outstanding talk series.
Stephen Colbert hosts “The Late Show” on September 16, 2025.© Scott Kowalchyk, CBS
“Now that Jimmy’s not being canceled, I get to enjoy this again,” Colbert said, holding up his Emmy. “Once more, I am the only martyr in late-night!”
But, in reference to the cancellation of “The Late Show,” Colbert jokingly added, “Unless … CBS, you want to announce anything?”
Colbert concluded that Disney “folded” because “you, the American people, were upset” by the suspension and threatened to cancel subscriptions to Disney+ and Hulu.
“Welcome back, Jimmy,” he said. “Long may you wave.”
ABC announced earlier in the day on Sept. 22 that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will be back on Sept. 23, almost a week after it was indefinitely suspended.
Kimmel was pulled off the air after ABC faced pressure from the FCC over a comment the comedian made, saying that “the MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterize” Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer “as anything other than one of them.” Kimmel also mocked President Donald Trump’s reaction to Kirk’s fatal shooting.
Disney said in a statement on Sept. 22 that it “made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country” and because “we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.”
But “we have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday,” Disney said.
Colbert, whose “The Late Show” will end in May 2026 after CBS announced its cancellation in July, had previously joined a chorus of support for Kimmel. In a monologue on his show Sept. 18, Colbert decried Kimmel’s suspension as “blatant censorship.”
©Kevin Winter, Getty Images
Adam Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel from “The Man Show” appear on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” at the NBC Studios in Los Angeles on Nov. 19, 2001.
“If ABC thinks this is going to satisfy the regime, they are woefully naive, and clearly, they’ve never read the children’s book ‘If You Give a Mouse a Kimmel,” Colbert said at the time. “And to Jimmy, just let me say, I stand with you and your staff 100%.”
“And also,” he said before grabbing his Emmy, “you couldn’t let me enjoy this for like one week?”
