Jimmy Kimmel took a swipe at CBS's parent company, Paramount, during a joint interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday. Kimmel, alongside fellow late-night hosts Seth Meyers, John Oliver, Jimmy Fallon, and Colbert, recalled ABC briefly pulling his show off the air last year and pointed to the wave of Disney+ cancellations in response.
Kimmel's Dig at Paramount+
“Why aren’t you people canceling Paramount+? ’Cause you didn’t have it in the first place?” Kimmel asked, drawing laughs from Colbert, Fallon, and Meyers. His remark comes as Colbert's show enters its final stretch, with CBS canceling it last year for what the network called “purely” financial reasons. The Late Show is set to end on May 21.
Kimmel has joined many fans in questioning those claims, suspecting political pressure played a role, especially since Paramount is now led by a Trump-aligned CEO following last year's merger with Skydance Media.
Kimmel's History with Trump World
Kimmel is no stranger to backlash from the Trump administration. ABC briefly suspended his show in September after complaints from the Trump-friendly FCC chair over his comments on an assassination attempt. In late April, Donald and Melania Trump tried to pressure ABC to fire Kimmel over a joke about the first lady. Kimmel has remained defiant in response to the president's complaints.
Oliver's Response
During the interview, John Oliver responded to Kimmel by referencing Paramount's possible merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns HBO, home of his show Last Week Tonight. “Jimmy, until the deal goes through, if I can just do a counter to that, Paramount+ might have some good programming unless it’s not going through, in which case it can go fuck itself, now and forever,” Oliver joked.
Kimmel, earlier asked by Colbert to “make a case for late-night,” argued that the question shouldn't be posed, noting that Ryan Seacrest doesn't get similar questions about Wheel of Fortune. Oliver cracked, “I would actually like to hear Ryan Seacrest defend Wheel of Fortune.”
