Jimmy Fallon recently expressed his disappointment over the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
In his Monday broadcast, Fallon joked about the news, saying, “I don’t like what’s going on one bit. These are crazy times.” He also mentioned that his father called him to say he wasn’t a “Kimmel guy,” referencing the rumors about Jimmy Kimmel potentially being replaced.
Fallon spent time praising Colbert for his 10 years of smart work and many Emmys. He also reacted to the news with a statement last week, saying, “I’m just as shocked as everyone. Stephen is one of the sharpest, funniest hosts to ever do it. I really thought I’d ride this out with him for years to come.”
On Monday’s show, Fallon was joined by a slew of famous faces, including Andy Cohen, Anderson Cooper, Adam Sandler, and Jon Stewart, in a Coldplay kiss cam parody skit showing solidarity with Colbert.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will end its historic run in May 2026 at the end of the broadcast season. Paramount co-CEO and CBS president and CEO George Cheeks, CBS Entertainment head Amy Reisenbach, and CBS Studios president David Stapf said in a statement, “We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire The Late Show franchise at that time.”
The cancellation comes as CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global, hopes to close a merger with Skydance in the near future.
The company assured that the cancellation is “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night” and “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”
However, the Writers Guild of America has called for New York to investigate Paramount’s cancellation of the show, citing concerns about explicit or implicit political pressure.
Donald Trump, who filed a lawsuit against CBS last year, took to social media to share his reaction to the news. “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“His talent was even less than his ratings.” Colbert responded to the cancellation on his show, promising that the “gloves are off” and that he’d be honest about how he feels about Trump.
