Jimmy Kimmel called out Stephen Colbert’s fans for not ditching Paramount+ amid the cancellation of “The Late Show.”
The comedian shared his stance during the reunion of the “Strike Force Five” podcast hosts, including Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver, during Monday’s “Late Show” broadcast.
“The fact of the matter is, more people are watching late night television now than [ever before]… obviously Johnny Carson had a lot of people watching one show, but we have a lot of shows with like, 30,000 people watching each one, right?” Kimmel said while making a case for late night TV. “And it adds up. And people watch us on YouTube now. And people have a lot of different options, and yet they still keep coming to us.”
At this moment, Kimmel put Colbert’s supporters on blast, noting, “And I will tell you, when I got knocked off the air for a few days, people canceled Disney+. Why aren’t you people canceling Paramount+? Because you didn’t have it in the first place?”
Oliver, the host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” then chimed in, joking that he had different answers to that question depending on the status of the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.
“Jimmy, until the deal goes through, if I could just do a counter that Paramount+ might have some good programming,” Oliver quipped. “Unless it’s not going through, in which case, it can go f–k itself now and forever.”
Kimmel and Oliver weren’t the only late night hosts to voice their disappointment over Colbert’s cancellation, as Fallon called it “odd” the way the whole thing went down for the “Late Show” host.
“It’s a bummer, because I wanted to do this longer with you,” Fallon added. However, Oliver then roasted Fallon’s response as being “network television” speak, noting, “It was some fresh bulls–t.”
Kimmel also encouraged Colbert to debut “angry Stephen” and to “go nuts” in his final days on the air. “When this guy takes off his glasses and shakes out his hair,” the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host added. “It’s the sexiest damn thing you’ve ever seen.”
In January, CBS locked in the final air date for “The Late Show,” which will be May 21. The decision followed CBS’ announcement last summer, in which they shared that “The Late Show” would be coming to an end shortly after Colbert mocked Paramount’s $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump, blasting the move as a “big fat bribe.”
However, CBS executives noted at the time that the cancellation decision was purely a financial one.
“The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on CBS.
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