Photos: CBS, ABC
Jimmy Kimmel didn’t mince words in reacting to CBS’s surprise announcement that it will cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at the end of the 2025–26 season—and retire the franchise entirely.
Shortly after the news broke Thursday evening, Kimmel posted an Instagram Reel with a simple, two-part message:
“Love you Stephen.”
And: “F*ck you CBS and all your Sheldons.”
The post—simultaneously heartfelt and sharply barbed—was a show of solidarity from one late-night host to another. Though Kimmel and Colbert compete nightly for viewers, the two have long shared a mutual respect and genuine friendship.
Colbert himself addressed the news in a taped message for Thursday night’s Late Show, telling viewers, “Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending The Late Show in May,” and emphasizing, “I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away.”
The cancellation—announced in a joint statement from CBS leadership—was described as a “purely financial decision” unrelated to performance or “other matters happening at Paramount.” CBS called Colbert “irreplaceable” and said the Late Show franchise would be retired entirely after a ten-season run under Colbert, and more than 30 years overall, including David Letterman’s historic tenure.
In that context, Kimmel’s swipe at CBS—and its more conservative, risk-averse programming—landed as both comedic and cutting.
Kimmel, whose own contract with Disney lapses at the end of the 2025–26 season, has yet to clarify whether that will mark the end of Jimmy Kimmel Live.
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