Jimmy Kimmel is openly questioning what lies ahead for late-night television following the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s long-running CBS program. The veteran host admitted that Colbert’s exit has forced him to confront difficult questions about the future of his own show and the changing television landscape.
Jimmy Kimmel says Stephen Colbert talk show cancellation is like ‘looking at his own future’
In a new interview with Vulture, Jimmy Kimmel spoke about his concerns over the future of late-night television. He discussed declining confidence in the industry and reflected on his own experience dealing with political controversy during the Trump era. Kimmel said watching Colbert’s departure unfold felt deeply personal. “I feel a little bit defeated about it,” Kimmel told the publication after Colbert aired his final episode on May 21. “In a lot of ways, I feel like I’m looking at my own future.”
CBS canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in July 2025, even though Colbert still had one year left on his contract. The network said financial reasons led to the decision, but the move sparked debate among media experts and television insiders. Many people questioned whether Colbert’s frequent criticism of Donald Trump influenced the decision, especially as Paramount Global worked on its merger with Skydance Media.
Reports claimed that Colbert’s show was losing about $40 million a year. However, Kimmel pointed out that CBS had reportedly offered Colbert a longer contract just a few years earlier, which made him question the network’s reasoning. “Am I to believe that over the course of those two years, they suddenly started losing $40 million a year?” Kimmel asked. “These are just made-up numbers.”
The late-night host suggested the explanation raises more questions, particularly given Colbert’s strong audience performance during much of his tenure. Kimmel also disagreed with the idea that late-night television is dying. “There are far more people watching late-night TV than there ever were, if you look at the number of views me and my colleagues get online every day and add in our linear-television ratings,” he said. He went even further, arguing that “We’re not just dying of natural causes,” Kimmel said. “We’re being poisoned.”
