Stephen Colbert hosted fellow late-night frontmen Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver on Monday’s episode of “The Late Show.” The meeting was a send-off for Colbert, who will begin his final days as the face of “The Late Show,” which airs permanently on May 21.
Midway through their joint interview, Colbert urged his guests to “make a statement late at night” given the genre’s decline in recent years. Kimmel was the first to leave. He emphasized the strength of the late-night fan base, which he experienced firsthand on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Temporarily suspended.
“We have a lot of shows. We have 30,000 people watching each show, and it adds up,” Kimmel said. “Now people are watching us on YouTube. People have different options and they keep coming to us. I’m telling you, when I was taken off the air for a few days, people canceled Disney+. Why aren’t people canceling Paramount+? You didn’t have that in the first place?”
Colbert then asked the group another question. He asked his fellow hosts if, as young comedians, they had ever wanted to do work that the president of the United States felt strongly about.
Kimmel took control again, referencing his recent spat with first lady Melania Trump. He said, “You know what’s weirder? My wife has a job that she has strong feelings about.”
“Most of us have avoided that part,” Myers quipped.
Oliver then recalled the moment he found out Kimmel was getting into a late-night group chat with the first lady.
The “Last Week Tonight” host said with a laugh. “It’s great to get a message from Jimmy in a group message saying, ‘Oh, boy.'” And then there’s the photo of Melania mad at him. ”
Meyers then chimed in again, saying he likes it when President Donald Trump posts on Truth Social during the show because it means he’s participating in the live broadcast and, in that sense, supporting the show.
“What I like is that he posts when the show airs, just to say we appreciate him watching linear TV,” Myers said. “If there’s a point I make about late-night broadcasts, it’s that the leaders of the free world are watching when they air.”
CBS announced it would discontinue “The Late Show” in July 2025, citing a “financial decision.” But some have speculated that Mr. Colbert may have been poached to facilitate the merger between CBS’s parent company, Paramount, and David Ellison’s Skydance. At the time, the merger was still awaiting FCC approval and approval by representatives of President Trump, who had been a vocal critic of Colbert and late-night business in general.
Former “Late Show” host David Letterman, who will be one of Colbert’s final guests, has been one of the most outspoken critics of CBS’ decision. In a recent interview with New York Times journalist Jason Zinoman, Letterman slammed the network’s leadership as “lying weasels.”
“He was fired because the people selling the network to Skydance said, ‘Oh, we’ll have no problem with that guy. We’ll take care of the programming. We’ll just put it in the contract. When will the ink dry on the check?'” Letterman said. “I’ll go on record: ‘They’re lying. Let me just add one more thing, Jason. They’re lying weasels.’
