Three of the four late night comedy shows used their Monday episodes to celebrate ABC and Disney folding to liberal demands to bring back Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday, although nobody seemed to want to discuss his actual comments about MAGA “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”
NBC’s host of Late Night, Seth Meyers, asked CNN anchor Jake Tapper, “All right. Jimmy Kimmel. He's a friend of both of ours. You know him. I know him. We know he's a good person. Obviously, this news is very exciting. But what was your original take on how this all went down starting last week?”
Tapper huffed that, “I mean, I thought it was pretty much the most direct infringement by the government on free speech that I've seen in my lifetime.”
He also claimed, “This was the FCC chairman saying, ‘Local affiliates, it's time for you to say you're not going to air Kimmel anymore.’ And then Nexstar, the largest owner of local affiliates, needs approval from Brendan Carr himself to let this merger go through. ‘Yes, sir? How high do you want me to jump, sir?’ They do it. And it's just insane. It was just insane.
As of the publishing of this story, Sinclair has said it is not ready to allow Kimmel to return. That would suggest that, whatever one thinks of Carr’s remarks, he did not have the impact on the original situation that Tapper thinks he does.
Meyers, who continued his habit of not discussing what Kimmel actually said, followed up by declaring, “Yeah. I mean, certainly we don't know the details as we're talking about, you know, if any sort of agreement was reached or if ABC just is, sort of, like, you know, this was an error in judgment. But I sort of look forward to seeing obviously how Jimmy responds. That will be the most interesting piece of this.”
Tapper agreed and claimed Kimmel has now been spared Stephen Colbert’s fate, even though Colbert told him directly that his own cancellation was, in fact, about money:
Yeah. Well, look, I don't know why Disney and Bob Iger ultimately made the right decision and stood for free speech. They didn't initially. And that would be the second example. Because we all saw what happened with our friend Stephen Colbert and Shari Redstone at Paramount with a different merger and a different pressure point that the government has. And we'll see what happens when they come for Comcast and we'll see what happens when they come for Warner Brothers Discovery, and maybe you and I will be drawing comic books together.
Speaking of Colbert, over on CBS and The Late Show, he and the audience celebrated a victory:
You know, we do, like, 160 of these a year or something. And when I have the chance, it's always nice to start the show with some good news. Well, just a few hours before we taped this broadcast, we got word that our long national late nightmare is over because Disney announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return to air on ABC tomorrow, Tuesday night! Come on! Whoo! Whoo! Yes, sir! As well as it should be. This is—I couldn't—this is wonderful news for my dear friend Jimmy and his amazing staff. They can continue their show. You know, I'm so happy for them.
While Colbert previously dismissed concerns over Kimmel’s remarks, this time he was not interested in them at all, “Now, Disney put out a statement which said, "Last Wednesday we made the decision to meow meow meow," whatever. Here's why Disney folded. After Kimmel was suspended, Google searches for ‘Cancel Disney Plus’ and ‘Cancel Hulu’ spiked.”
Meanwhile, at Comedy Central, The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart praised those Googlers:
No, Kimmel is coming back. That campaign, and you know what, I'm joking around, I want to say this seriously, that campaign that you all launched, pretending that you were going to cancel Hulu while secretly racing through four seasons of Only Murders in the Building, that really worked. Congratulations. Wasn't it interesting to try and figure out all the tentacles Disney has in your daily life? It's one thing to swear off cruises, but The Avengers? Nah. How is it possible that by getting rid of one company, I can't watch Winnie the Pooh or Monday Night Football? Or listen to early Hilary Duff?
Late night outrage at Carr has allowed them to avoid reckoning with why everyone got mad at Kimmel in the first place. It has allowed them to ignore the fact that their conspiracy theorists do not dress up with Viking helmets but are instead called “professor” and considered to be intellectuals.
Here is a transcript for the September 22-taped shows:
NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers
9/23/2025
1:02 AM ET
MEYERS: All right. Jimmy Kimmel. He's a friend of both of ours.
JAKE TAPPER: Yeah.
MEYERS: You know him. I know him. We know he's a good person. Obviously, this news is very exciting. But what was your original take on how this all went down starting last week?
TAPPER: I mean, I thought it was pretty much the most direct infringement by the government on free speech that I've seen in my lifetime.
MEYERS: Yeah.
TAPPER: Networks are allowed to cancel shows. It happens all the time.
MEYERS: Of course.
TAPPER: But this was the FCC chairman saying, "Local affiliates, it's time for you to say you're not going to air Kimmel anymore." And then Nexstar, the largest owner of local affiliates, needs approval from Brendan Carr himself to let this merger go through. “Yes, sir? How high do you want me to jump, sir?" They do it. And it's just insane. It was just insane.
MEYERS: Yeah. I mean, certainly we don't know the details as we're talking about, you know, if any sort of agreement was reached or if ABC just is, sort of, like, you know, this was an error in judgment. But I sort of look forward to seeing obviously how Jimmy responds. That will be the most interesting piece of this.
TAPPER: Yeah. Well, look, I don't know why Disney and Bob Iger ultimately made the right decision and stood for free speech. They didn't initially. And that would be the second example. Because we all saw what happened with our friend Stephen Colbert—
MEYERS: Yeah.
TAPPER: — and Shari Redstone at Paramount with a different merger and a different pressure point that the government has. And we'll see what happens when they come for Comcast and we'll see what happens when they come for Warner Brothers Discovery, and maybe you and I will be drawing comic books together.
***
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
9/22/2025
11:37 PM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: You know, we do, like, 160 of these a year or something. And when I have the chance, it's always nice to start the show with some good news. Well, just a few hours before we taped this broadcast, we got word that our long national late nightmare is over because Disney announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return to air on ABC tomorrow, Tuesday night! Come on! Whoo! Whoo! Yes, sir! As well as it should be. This is — I couldn't — this is wonderful news for my dear friend Jimmy and his amazing staff. They can continue their show. You know, I'm so happy for them.
Plus, now that Jimmy's not being canceled, I get to enjoy this again! Yeah! Once more, I am the only martyr in late night. Wait. Unless, CBS, you want to announce anything? Huh? Huh? What? Huh? Still no? Right, 'cause the money thing. I forgot. Yeah, the money thing.
Now, Disney put out a statement which said, "Last Wednesday we made the decision to meow meow meow," whatever. Here's why Disney folded. After Kimmel was suspended Google, searches for "Cancel Disney Plus" and "Cancel Hulu" spiked. Which explains why the other trending search was "How to entertain feral child without Bluey?” question mark.
***
Comedy Central The Daily Show
9/22/2025
11:02 PM ET
JON STEWART: Meanwhile, in other ABC News, young Jimmy Kimmel is coming back to television. I'll tell you, Jimmy Kimmel is flying high like Advil today. "Acetaminophen, boom, Advil’s like, what's up, mother[bleep]? You got a headache, where are you going to turn?”
No, Kimmel is coming back. That campaign, and you know what, I'm joking around, I want to say this seriously, that campaign that you all launched, pretending that you were going to cancel Hulu while secretly racing through four seasons of Only Murders in the Building, that really worked. Congratulations. Wasn't it interesting to try and figure out all the tentacles Disney has in your daily life? It's one thing to swear off cruises, but The Avengers? Nah. How is it possible that by getting rid of one company, I can't watch Winnie the Pooh or Monday Night Football? Or listen to early Hilary Duff?
