Jimmy Kimmel has seen his fair of struggles and controversy over the past few weeks, following comments about the assassination of Charlie Kirk that were taken out of context. The late night host had his show suspended and put on brief hiatus before he was brought back. Before that, though, Kimmel commented on another late night show’s struggles, specifically the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s program. It was revealed in July that Paramount/CBS wouldn’t be renewing Colbert’s contract, instead letting the show run until next May before ending it.
Kimmel talked about the news on the Where Everybody Knows Your Name Podcast, where he provided his own perspective on the matter — specifically, calling out the “lies” about the reason for the cancellation:
“We don’t know for sure. But I do know, what I do know for sure is that some of the information that has been released by the people who let him go can’t possibly be true. There’s no way he’s losing $40 million a year. There’s no way it’s even close to that. I know how the finances of late night television shows work and it’s just ridiculous. It doesn’t make any sense at all. So when you hear things that are obviously lies, you have to assume that there are more lies behind it, right? And that’s what I think.”
Jimmy Kimmel’s Vocal Support for Stephen Colbert is Admirable
ABC
This isn’t the first time Kimmel has called out the alleged reasoning behind the cancellation of Colbert’s show; he previously sat down with Variety to talk about his place in the television industry, as well as commenting on the reports that Colbert’s show lost revenue. Specifically, he called out the idea that the show was losing that much amount of money as “nonsensical.” He went on to criticize the “insiders” who reported these findings, saying:
“It really is surprising how little the media seems to know about how the media works. There’s just not a snowball’s chance in hell that that’s anywhere near accurate. Even that — that’s all you need to know. Suddenly he’s losing $40 million a year? Will I tell you, the first 10 years I did the show, they claimed we weren’t making any money — and we had five times as many viewers on ABC as we do now. Who knows what’s true? All I know is they keep paying us — and that’s kind of all you need to know.”
It’s admirable to see Kimmel remain vocal about his disdain for the discourse surrounding Colbert’s departure from late night television, despite his own struggles with remaining on the air. Getting his insight on the economics of television and late-night shows has also provided a new perspective through which to view the situation with Paramount and Colbert as it unfolds. With his show now back on the air, viewers can hopefully expect Kimmel to remain as opinionated as ever.
Release Date
January 26, 2003
Network
ABC
Writers
Joel Hodgson, Sal Iacono, Tony Barbieri, Eric Immerman, Jonathan Bines, Rick Rosner, Bryan Paulk, Danny Ricker, Jeff Loveness, Josh Halloway, Bess Kalb