Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday said he would be taking Thursday night off out of respect for Stephen Colbert and his “Late Show” team, which will be airing its final episode.
“I think you know how I feel about the fact that they are being pushed out,” said Kimmel, who has spoken out repeatedly against the decision to cancel Colbert’s show. “I hope the people who did the pushing feel ashamed of themselves tonight, although I know they probably won’t.”
Kimmel said he never felt like he was competing with Colbert despite being on rival networks in the same time slot. The two have appeared on each other’s shows, and on Wednesday night, Kimmel invited Colbert to come back “as many times as possible.”
“And on behalf of everyone at our show, we want to say to everyone at your show, it has been a pleasure to work alongside you,” Kimmel said.
He said he would be watching Colbert’s final show himself on Thursday, and urged his audience to do the same ― but with one caveat so as not to reward those who fired his friend.
“I hope that those of you who watch our show will also tune in to CBS ― for the last time,” he said. “Don’t ever watch it again, but watch tomorrow night to wish Stephen and our friends at ‘The Late Show’ a fond farewell.”
CBS announced the cancellation of “The Late Show” last summer, as Trump had repeatedly demanded and just as corporate parent Paramount sought approval from the Federal Communications Commission to complete a merger.
The merger was approved just one week later.
The network claimed Colbert’s show ― which had the highest ratings in its time slot ― had been losing $40 million a year, but Kimmel last year dismissed that as “obvious lies.”
“There’s no way it’s even close to that,” he said on the “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” podcast. “I know how finances of late-night television shows work, and it’s just ridiculous. It doesn’t make any sense at all.”
Check out Kimmel’s latest comments in his Wednesday night monologue: