With Emmy voting drawing to a close, Stephen Colbert has thrown his support behind Jimmy Kimmel in the newly revamped outstanding cariety series race, even though Colbert’s own late-night show is competing in the same category.
In a video posted on social media, a bearded Colbert appears sitting outdoors on a windswept coastline with a tablet on his lap, introducing himself while alluding to his recent exit: “Stephen Colbert here, at the end of the world.”
“You know, there’s 24 hours left in Emmy voting, and if you’re anything like me, you haven’t even started yet. So let’s get going,” Colbert said in the video.
“Kind of a weird voting system this year, but you know, I think we can all agree that Jimmy Kimmel deserves an Emmy,” he continued. “I don’t care if you’ve never even seen his show, you know he deserves an Emmy.”
Colbert then flips his tablet and holds it towards the camera, showing a photo of Kimmel: “Besides, look how cute he is! Anyway, please consider thinking that Jimmy deserves an Emmy. I do. I love you.”
In endorsing Kimmel, Colbert is returning a favor. Last year, when he was competing against Kimmel for outstanding talk series following CBS’ announcement that it would cancel “The Late Show,” Kimmel mounted his own very public campaign on behalf of his rival. He put up a billboard in West Hollywood featuring himself alongside the message: “I’m voting for Stephen.” Colbert went on to win the category.
This year, the two hosts are once again Emmy rivals, though under a very different set of rules. The Television Academy merged the former talk and scripted variety categories into outstanding variety series, whose five nominees are “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” “The Daily Show,” “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” and “Saturday Night Live.”
Kimmel also just launched an unconventional — if not daring — Emmy campaign of his own. Rather than showcasing celebrity interviews or standout monologues from “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” Kimmel assembled a campaign video largely from clips of President Donald Trump repeatedly attacking him and his show.
For Colbert, this year’s Emmys come after the end of “The Late Show” in May following an 11-year run on CBS. Its final season earned nine Emmy nominations, including outstanding variety series and outstanding writing for a variety series.
Colbert also made a virtual appearance last week to accept the award for outstanding achievement in variety, talk or sketch from the Television Critics Association Awards.
The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards are set for Sept. 14.