Jimmy Kimmel sends a sharp message to CBS after Stephen Colbert’s Late Show gets cancelled

Jimmy Kimmel came out swinging the moment CBS confirmed that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will wrap up in May 2026. Posting to Instagram stories at 9:14 p.m. ET on 17 July 2025, the ABC host wrote,

“Love you Stephen. F‑‑‑ you and all your Sheldons, CBS.”

Jimmy Kimmel Live! Viewers quickly shared the screenshot, and the barb rocketed across social media. The network, meanwhile, framed Colbert’s exit as:

“purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”

The news immediately rekindled an old rumor: Is Jimmy Kimmel’s show cancelled? The short answer is no. A  May 19, 2023, monologue bit, staged as a mock “ABC News Special Report”, fooled some viewers into thinking the comic had been fired, but ABC never pulled the plug on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and the program remains on the schedule.

By lacing his support for Colbert with an expletive‑laden swipe at CBS, Jimmy Kimmel positioned himself as late night’s elder statesman and set the stage for fresh intrigue about what drove the Colbert cancellation.

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Jimmy Kimmel blasts CBS while backing his late‑night ally

Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert are more than friendly rivals. The pair co‑hosted the 2023 podcast Strike Force Five alongside Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver to raise money for staff furloughed during the WGA strike. Their easy banter turned into solidarity when CBS dropped its bombshell.

Kimmel replied to Colbert’s cancellation Instagram reel on his stories and also in the comments:

“Love you Stephen… F‑‑‑ you and all your Sheldons, CBS.”

The message appeared in Instagram comments beneath Colbert’s on‑stage announcement clip, then disappeared after 24 hours like any story post, but not before screen grabs went viral.

Industry watchers note that CBS cancelled the one late‑night show still winning its timeslot. Some speculate the move followed Colbert’s recent on‑air criticism of Paramount’s $16 million settlement with Donald Trump, a link raised by Senator Elizabeth Warren the same night .

 

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Stephen Colbert’s decade at CBS and the road to cancellation

Stephen Colbert inherited The Late Show from David Letterman on  September 8, 2015, bringing a harder political edge that kept the series No. 1 in total viewers for nine consecutive seasons. Over nearly 10 years, he:

1) won multiple Emmys,

2) hosted the 2017 Primetime Emmy Awards,

3) signed an overall deal that spun off animated satire Tooning Out the News, and

4) Built a 200‑person staff at the Ed Sullivan Theater.

Yet on 17 July 2025, Colbert told his studio audience he had learned “just last night” that next season would be his last. As per a CBS News report dated 17 July 2025, he said:

“It's not just the end of our show, but it's the end of 'The Late Show' on CBS,...I'm not being replaced. This is all just going away. And I do want to say ... that the folks at CBS have been great partners."

He added,

"I'm so grateful to the Tiffany Network for giving me this chair and this beautiful theater to call home. And of course I'm grateful to you, the audience, who have joined us every night.”

CBS insisted the choice was financial, stressing it was:

“not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”

Inside sources say the network will retire the entire Late Show franchise once Colbert signs off in May 2026, marking the end of a format that began with Letterman in 1993.

The decision shocked Hollywood. Andy Cohen called it “a sad day for late night.” Lawmakers like Warren and Adam Schiff publicly questioned whether Colbert’s pointed monologues hastened his exit. For Jimmy Kimmel, the cancellation erases one of the few peers who match his mix of political satire and ratings heft.

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Is Jimmy Kimmel’s show cancelled?

Rumors claiming ABC axed Jimmy Kimmel Live! resurface whenever the host pokes fun at corporate media. The most viral example traces back to a May 19, 2023, gag.

The show staged a spoof bulletin in which sidekick Guillermo announced Kimmel’s “mutual” departure after “20 years on the air,” prompting genuine confusion on social media. ABC issued no press release, and Kimmel returned after the bit without interruption.

Today, Jimmy Kimmel Live! is entering its 23rd season, making Jimmy Kimmel the longest‑serving broadcast‑network late‑night host. ABC has not indicated any plans to end or replace the show. In fact, Kimmel’s current contract, signed in 2022, runs through the 2025‑26 television season.

So while The Late Show with Stephen Colbert counts down to its finale, Kimmel remains firmly on the air, albeit newly motivated to call out network decisions he deems shortsighted. Whether his nine‑word Instagram blast (“Love you Stephen…”) influences CBS's strategy is unclear, but it certainly cements Jimmy Kimmel’s role as late night’s outspoken standard‑bearer.

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Stay tuned for more updates.