Stephen Colbert, a man who knows a thing or two about getting caught up in a political firestorm, has come to the support of his friend Jimmy Kimmel.
Colbert, in his monologue tonight on The Late Show, mocked Disney for pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live! and stood up for freedom of speech.
Discussing FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s comments that “it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine fall short of community values”, Colbert said, “You know what my community values are, Buster? Freedom of speech. Or as Alexander Hamilton called it, ‘Hakuna Matata’.”
Referring to a report that Disney executives had been “pissing themselves all day” ahead of the decision to pull the show, Colbert joked, “On the bright side, that proves Disney is number one in streaming.”
Colbert’s comments come 24 hours after ABC indefinitely preempted Jimmy Kimmel Live! following a furor around Kimmel’s comments about Charlie Kirk’s killer.
On Monday, Kimmel said, “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it.”
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr subsequently called Kimmel’s comments “some of the sickest conduct possible”.
This was soon followed by local station Nexstar saying it would “preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! for the foreseeable future” as it “strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk”.
Moments later, Disney made its own decision to pause the show.
Colbert is uniquely suited to comment on the situation given that his own show, The Late Show, was canceled earlier this year by CBS. While the network said that it was a financial decision, many wondered whether it was a political decision, given that Colbert had days before called Paramount’s decision to settle a lawsuit with President Trump a “big fat bribe”.
After winning the Emmy on Sunday for Outstanding Talk Series, Colbert said, “Sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense that you might be losing it.”
“I have never loved my country more desperately. God bless America. Stay strong. Be brave and if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor,” he added.
The late-night hosts have all become friends over the years and Colbert and Kimmel, alongside Seth Meyers and John Oliver, hosted their own podcast Strike Force Five, during the writers strike.
Colbert also thanked Kimmel, who campaigned for The Late Show to win its Emmy, earlier this week.
Check back in later for more from The Late Show, where Colbert will be interviewing Jake Tapper and David Remnick.
The post Stephen Colbert Mocks Disney For Kimmel Suspension & Stands Up For “Freedom of Speech” appeared first on Deadline.
