Stephen Colbert joined his fellow late-night hosts in celebrating Jimmy Kimmel’s promised return to television in his monologue on Monday night. The news that Kimmel would return to air on Tuesday couldn’t have come soon enough, as pushback to the FCC’s mafia-esque tactics had reached a fever pitch.
If Jesus had made his return to the Earthly plane after three business days, the comparisons to Jimmy Kimmel would probably be unbearable. Even still, the resurrected late-night host is being regarded as a champion for free speech. Before Disney announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be coming back to television, the panic surrounding his removal was reaching a fever pitch. The ACLU got 400 celebrities to sign a letter condemning Disney and ABC’s decision. People were canceling their Hulu and Disney+ subscriptions en masse. Stock for the Mouse was plummeting.
But Disney’s Bob Iger found his backbone somewhere in the backlash and billion-dollar losses the company incurred. The news was announced just before the late-night shows began taping, giving Colbert the chance to address his peer’s reverse cancellation at the top of his Monday night monologue.
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“It’s always nice to start the show with some good news,” Colbert started. “Well, just a few hours before we taped this broadcast, we got word that our long national late nightmare is over because Disney announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return to air on ABC tomorrow, Tuesday night. As well, he should be.”
There was riotous applause for the news, echoing the celebrations that were breaking out online.
“This is wonderful news for my dear friend Jimmy and his amazing staff. They continue their show,” Colbert said, a measure of sincerity coming through. “You know, I’m so happy for them. Plus, now that Jimmy’s not being cancelled, I get to enjoy this again. Yeah. I am once more the only martyr in late night.”
Colbert then took the opportunity to make an appeal for the fate of The Late Show. “Wait, unless CBS, you want to announce anything,” Colbert joked.
Gripping his recently-won Emmy, the host waited a beat for CBS to miraculously reverse their decision about canceling the program when Colbert’s contract ends in 2026. No such luck. “Still no, right? Cuz the money thing. I forgot,” Colbert said. “Yeah, the money thing.”
After that, he dove back into his ratings rival’s better fortune. “Disney put out a statement which said, ‘Last Wednesday, we made the decision to meow meow meow whatever,’” Colbert continued. “Here’s why Disney folded: After Kimmel was suspended, Google searches for cancel Disney+ and cancel Hulu spiked. So Disney put Kimmel back on because you, the American people, were upset.”
The subtext? There was no way to put similar pressure on CBS because there’s only 17 people subscribed to Paramount+.