Colbert emerges from cancellation to urge Emmy voters to select Jimmy Kimmel

Stephen Colbert, who hosted his final episode of “The Late Show” in May, continued his long-running bromance with Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday by encouraging Emmy voters to consider the ABC late-night host for best variety show.

Colbert’s since-canceled “Late Show” is nominated for Outstanding Variety Series at the 2026 Emmy Awards, along with “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” “The Daily Show” and “Saturday Night Live.” A bearded Colbert filmed a brief video for social media while sitting in a chair atop a cliff overlooking a large body of water to suggest his liberal pal deserves the award instead of his own program. 

“Oh, hi, Stephen Colbert here at the end of the world. You know, there is 24 hours in Emmy voting, and if you’re anything like me, you haven’t even started yet. So, let’s get going,” Colbert said.

“First up we have, oh, Outstanding Variety Series … I think we can all agree that Jimmy Kimmel deserves an Emmy. I don’t care if you’ve never even seen his show, you know he deserves an Emmy,” Colbert continued while showing an image of Kimmel on his tablet. “Besides, look how cute he is. Anyway, please consider thinking that Jimmy deserves an Emmy. I do. I love you.”

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NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck called Colbert’s plea “beyond pathetic and embarrassing.”

“It’s a perfect reminder of how this is such a club that only seeks to further their partisan, fun house mirrors world that’s all-Trump hate, all the time. These are two of the people most responsible for the decline in network comedy and why no one should take the profession seriously without sweeping changes,” Houck told Fox News Digital. 

Kimmel, who has publicly attacked CBS for pulling the plug on Colbert’s show, has followed a similar playbook as his buddy by mocking President Donald Trump on a nightly basis. Kimmel and Colbert have widely praised each other, appeared on each other’s programs and the former even went dark during the final episode of CBS’ “Late Show.” 

“I will be watching tomorrow night. I hope that those of you who watch our show will also tune in to CBS for the last time. Don’t ever watch it again,” Kimmel said on the eve of Colbert’s farewell show.

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The cancellation of “The Late Show,” which CBS announced in 2025, sparked a national debate as Colbert’s liberal defenders accused the network of pulling him off the air for political reasons. The announcement came just days after CBS parent company Paramount settled Trump’s “60 Minutes” lawsuit. 

Shortly after the cancellation was announced, Trump’s FCC approved Paramount’s multibillion-dollar merger with Skydance Media, which is run by David Ellison, son of billionaire Trump ally Larry Ellison.

CBS maintained that the cancellation was purely a financial decision, a claim Colbert openly rejected on his show in defiance of his corporate bosses. However, it was reported at the time that “The Late Show” was losing the network a whopping $40 million per year.

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Kimmel was briefly suspended by Disney after controversial remarks he made about the assassination of Charlie Kirk sparked outrage, and ABC said the show would be preempted indefinitely. He returned to the air days later and insisted he never intended to make light of Kirk’s death. 

Months later, Kimmel found himself in hot water again when an “expectant widow” joke about first lady Melania Trump went viral on social media in the wake of the attack at the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) Dinner. The poorly aged joke resulted in both the president and first lady calling for ABC to act. 

Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.