When CBS announced the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, fans across the US were left speechless. Colbert has been a mainstay on CBS since taking over The Late Show in 2015, and The Late Show remains the most-watched late-night show on broadcast.
No one saw the cancellation coming, including Colbert’s fellow late-night hosts. Colbert’s competitors were quick to call out CBS’s decision, including Jimmy Kimmel. Kimmel wasted no time in calling out CBS with a statement released via social media, and it wasn’t just shock that Kimmel felt upon learning the news.
As Kimmel’s wife Molly McNearney revealed in a new interview with Gold Derby, she and Kimmel were out together with their kids at an anti-Trump rally when the news first broke. Upon seeing the news alert on her phone, McNearney recalls a feeling of devastation washing over her and Kimmel.
“I was very upset. I actually happened to be at a rally in Jackson Hole with Jimmy and our kids, an anti-Trump rally where my kids got flipped-off I think three to four times. And then my phone was buzzing, and I looked down and saw that Colbert's show was canceled, and I was truly devastated by it. And so was Jimmy,” McNearney reflected of learning the news. “We have a deep respect for Stephen Colbert and his entire crew and cast and staff, and I'm really disappointed.”
Never one to hold back on expressing his opinion, Kimmel did not hold back in his criticism of CBS but he didn’t stop there. After being the first late-night host to publicly come to Colbert’s defense following CBS’s cancellation of The Late Show, Kimmel has become one of Colbert’s biggest advocates.
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Despite being nominated in the same category, Kimmel has been actively campaigning for Emmy voters to vote for Colbert at the forthcoming 77th Emmy Awards. Kimmel has purchased a billboard to support The Late Show and used any opportunity he’s been given to encourage Emmy voters to throw their support behind Colbert, most recently using a Variety profile that was intended to be about his Emmy nominations to implore readers to vote for Colbert.
While others in the late-night space have come to the defense of Colbert with comments of support, none have come close to matching the support Kimmel has given his fellow late-night host. And it’s not just for show as Kimmel is truly doing all he can to advocate for Colbert, particularly when it comes to helping him win an Emmy come the annual ceremony this September.
“He is 100 percent voting for Stephen Colbert, which of course, we support and love,” McNearney confirmed.
Come Emmy night, we’ll be shocked if Colbert does not walk away with the win. If, for some reason, he does not and Kimmel’s name is read, we have a strong feeling Colbert will still be the one accepting the award at the end of the night if Kimmel has anything to say about it.
The 77th Annual Emmy Awards will air Sunday, Sept. 14 at 8/7c on CBS.