President Donald Trump has broken his silence on the cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, and it seems Trump has already set his sights on bringing down another late-night host.
On July 17, CBS stunned audiences by announcing the cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert despite the show finishing the second quarter as the most-watched late-night show on broadcast and having just landed yet another Emmy nomination. The news sent shockwaves through the late-night landscape, prompting stunned reactions from not only Colbert's late-night colleagues but also actors, friends of the show, politicians, and the president himself.
Unsurprisingly, it took Trump less than 24 hours to react to news of CBS’s decision to end The Late Show, and the President showed no grace in addressing the news. In fact, he used it to not only celebrate Colbert’s firing, but to take a shot at fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel in the process with a thinly veiled threat.
“I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on July 18.
The reaction likely isn't one that will surprise late-night fans, who have grown accustomed to Trump singling out the late-night hosts and putting them on blast. Colbert and Kimmel, in particular, have long been the targets of Trump's verbal attacks, so it's not shocking Trump would use the moment celebrating the end of The Late Show to also take a shot at Kimmel.
Trump famously has called Kimmel out on numerous occasions, including during the 2024 Academy Awards, when he roasted Kimmel, asking whether there was a "worse host" ABC could have selected. The commentary was then reacted to directly by Kimmel live during the Oscars telecast, joking, "Thank you, President Trump. Thank you for watching. I'm surprised you're still up. Isn't it past jail time?"
As Kimmel is currently on a hiatus with guest hosts stepping in for the show's most recent episodes, we imagine Kimmel will address Trump's comments upon his return to Jimmy Kimmel Live, or perhaps even on social media. Kimmel has already weighed in on CBS's cancellation and was the first late-night host to come to Colbert's defense on social media.
Just hours after CBS pulled the plug on The Late Show, Kimmel took to Instagram to call out CBS for its decision writing, "Love you Stephen. F--k you and all your Sheldons, CBS."
CBS maintains that the decision to cancel The Late Show was a financial one, but critics of the decision continue to question the real motive behind the show's cancellation. This is a conversation that will likely continue for weeks, and honestly even months, and we're honestly eager to see how CBS's decision might impact the late-night landscape. All we can hope for is that ABC will continue to have Kimmel's back.
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