Topline
Late-night hosts Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon criticized ABC’s decision to take fellow late-night comic Jimmy Kimmel’s show off the air over his comments about the assassination of Charlie Kirk and accused President Donald Trump’s administration of cracking down on free speech.
Colbert called out Kimmel’s suspension as “blatant censorship.”
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Key Facts
Colbert began his Late Show monologue by declaring, “Tonight we’re all Jimmy Kimmel,” and stated that Kimmel’s show being taken off air by ABC after threats from the FCC was “blatant censorship”.
“With an autocrat, you cannot give an inch,” Colbert said, directing his ire at Trump, and added: “If ABC thinks that this is going to satisfy the regime, they are woefully naive.”
The “Late Show” host then alleged that Kimmel’s suspension was not entirely about his comments on Kirk, but rather “part of a plan,” as he cited Trump’s remarks after his show’s cancellation announcement, where he wrote: “Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go.”
In a later segment, Colbert brought back his fictional right-wing commentator “Stephen Colbert” character from the “Colbert Report”, where he compared the First Amendment to a gym membership and said: “You can have your rights just as long as you don’t use them.”
Continuing in character, he added: “Give up, America…Just give up and stop saying anything that might upset the president…If you think that’s a terrible idea, no you don’t.”
Section Title
Making a rare Thursday appearance, Daily Show host Jon Stewart’s opening segment began with a voice-over declaring it as the “all-new government-approved Daily Show,” hosted by “your patriotically obedient host.” The intro video was altered to feature videos of American flags, as Stewart, who usually hosts the Monday edition of The Daily Show, appeared in a gold-adorned set. Throughout the segment, Stewart appeared to parody an “administration-compliant” show run under an autocratic regime, and said: “I don’t know who this ‘Johnny Drimmel Live’ ABC character is, but the point is, our great administration has laid out very clear rules on free speech.” Stewart’s parody segment referred to Trump as “our great father.” Stewart then echoed a few Trump talking points, saying, “We’re coming to you tonight from…the crime-ridden cesspool that is New York City. It is a tremendous disaster like no one’s ever seen before. Some of the National Guard should invade this place, am I right?” “Now, some naysayers may argue that this Administration’s speech concerns are merely a cynical ploy, a thin gruel of a ruse, a smoke screen to obscure an unprecedented consolidation of power and unitary intimidation; principle-less and coldly antithetical to any experiment in a constitutional republic governance,” before adding: “Some people would say that. Not me, though, I think it’s great.”
What Did Seth Meyers Say?
The “Late Night with Seth Meyers” host opened his “A Closer Look” segment, saying Trump’s administration is pursuing a “crackdown on free speech” before mockingly adding: “Completely unrelated, I just want to say before we get started here that I’ve always admired and respected Mr. Trump.” Meyers later added: “Trump promised to end government censorship and bring back free speech, and he’s doing the opposite. And it has experts worried that we’re rapidly devolving into a repressive autocracy in the style of Russia or Hungary much faster than anyone could have predicted.”
What Did Jimmy Fallon Say?
In his opening monologue, “The Tonight Show,” host Jimmy Fallon joked he had woken up to “100 messages from my dad saying, ‘sorry they cancelled your show.’” He then added: “To be honest with you all, I don’t know what is going on. And no one does. But I do know Jimmy Kimmel and he is a decent, funny and loving guy, and I hope he comes back.” Fallon then said: “A lot of people are worried that we won’t keep saying what we want to say or that we’ll be censored. But I’m going to cover the president’s trip to the UK just like I normally would.” However, when he started speaking about Trump, any negative remark or mockery would get muted and replaced by a voice-over praising the president.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/09/19/blatant-censorship-late-night-hosts-react-to-kimmel-being-taken-off-air/
