Stephen Colbert spoke in support of fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.
During the taping of “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Thursday, Colbert worked on pulling Kimmel’s show into the air indefinitely following Kimmel’s comments about Charlie Kirk.
“This is blatant censorship,” Colbert said according to CNBC.
“A dictator cannot give an inch,” he added, referring to President Donald Trump.
Colbert stood by Kimmel and Kimmel staff and said he dedicated Thursday’s show to freedom of speech and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” staff.
Kimmel previously supported Colbert when Colbert’s “Late Show” was cancelled by CBS in July. Kimmel threw Emmy support behind Colbert, who won this year’s Emmy Award for this year’s outstanding talk series.
Colbert and Kimmel are both on the receivers of Trump’s jabs.
After CBS cancelled “Late Show,” Trump wrote in the Truth Social Post:
“I’ve heard Jimmy Kimmel is next. He’s even less talented than Colbert!” he added.
On Wednesday, Trump publicly glossed about Kimmel’s suspension via True Social, writing, “Great News for America: The Challenge Jimmy Kimmel Shaw has been cancelled.”
“We congratulate ABC for having the courage to do what they ultimately had to do,” he added.
Trump also denounced late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Myers.
“Kimmel has zero talent and if that’s possible, he has a worse rating than Colbert,” he writes. “It leaves two total losers, Jimmy and Seth, on fake News NBC, and their ratings are also scary.
Kimmel found him heading to his Los Angeles law firm on Thursday, giving the paparazzi a smirk.
The host of “The Man Show” reportedly doesn’t want to apologise for his comments about Kirk, despite Sinclair, the media company operating as the largest ABC affiliate group, apologizing directly to Kirk’s family and demanding “make meaningful personal donations to the Kirk family and Turning Point USA.”
Daily Mail reported that Kimmel is about to break out of his contract with ABC.
“Jimmy is upset with the decision to pause him and the show, and he is actively looking for a way out of his contract, so he’s not going to downplay this,” an insider told the outlet.
“This is the last straw and Jimmy is now trying to break his relationship with ABC forever.”
