NEWS'Defeated' Jimmy Kimmel Admits His Late-Night Show Could Be Next After Stephen Colbert's Cancelation: 'Everything Is So Tumultuous'
Jimmy Kimmel gave his take on friend Stephen Colbert's show getting the axe.
June 1 2026, Published 1:19 p.m. ET
Jimmy Kimmel questioned the future of late-night TV following the cancelation of friend Stephen Colbert's Late Show series.
“I feel a little bit defeated about it,” the comedian, 58, candidly told Vulture in an interview published on Monday, June 1.
CBS Scrapped Stephen Colbert's Show in July 2025
Stephen Colbert ended 'The Late Show' on May 21 after 11 years on the air.
"In a lot of ways, I feel like I’m looking at my own future," Kimmel continued.
CBS canceled Colbert's show in July 2025, citing it as a "purely a financial decision." At the time, CBS' parent company, Paramount, paid a $16 million settlement to Donald Trump over a lawsuit involving his 60 Minutes interview.
Colbert, 62, bashed the agreement on his show shortly after, calling it a "big fat bribe."
Colbert had his last show on May 21 after 11 years on the air.
Stephen Colbert's Last Show Aired on May 21
Jimmy Kimmel said ABC told him his own late-night show is still very profitable.
Following news of the cancelation, it was reported the funnyman's late-night show was losing $40 million a year. However, Kimmel doesn't believe that statistic, referencing a New York Times article from 2023 that stated Colbert was presented with a a five-year contract, but instead, decided to go with three.
“Am I to believe that over the course of those two years, they suddenly started losing $40 million a year?” he said. “These are just made-up numbers.”
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'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' was suspended for a week last year following the comedian's statements about Charlie Kirk.
The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host revealed ABC “quite specifically” told him his show is still bankable.
“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,” Kimmel explained. “We’re not just dying of natural causes. We’re being poisoned.”
“Everything is so tumultuous,” he sighed. “That seemed to make sense. It’s definitely not how it’s gone in the past.”
Is Jimmy Kimmel Retiring From Late-Night TV?
Jimmy Kimmel said he has to be 'responsible' regarding his future on TV.
The frequent Academy Awards emcee's show contract was extended in December by just one year, instead of the usual three.
Kimmel previously received backlash (and was taken off the air for several days) following his comments about slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September 2025.
ABC suspended his show for one week after he criticized Trump's reaction to the Turning Point USA CEO's killing. Kirk was shot by an assailant during an event in Utah last year.
As for Kimmel's thoughts on retiring from TV, he said the idea is still up in the air. "It’s important to me to be responsible,” he noted. “I know I could go out in a blaze of glory and get a lot of applause for it, but it would be a very selfish thing to do.”
