As Stephen Colbert strolled onto the stage of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” late Tuesday afternoon at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, a couple of thousand fans jumped to their feet and bellowed a deafening chant of “Stephen! Stephen! Stephen!”
A couple of hours later, the roles were reversed: Mr. Kimmel headed for the guest chair at Mr. Colbert’s theater in Midtown Manhattan amid a standing ovation and chants of “Jimmy! Jimmy! Jimmy!”
The Tuesday editions of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on ABC and “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” on CBS were effectively a stunt, a crossover event across New York City that took advantage of the trip that Mr. Kimmel’s Los Angeles production takes to Brooklyn every year.
But the gimmick, in which each played the role of host and guest, had some added significance: It followed a chaotic two-month stretch with one permanent cancellation (Mr. Colbert) and one temporary cancellation (Mr. Kimmel) that set off a fierce national debate about free speech and the Trump’s administration’s repeated attacks on the media.
And the Tuesday editions of each late-night show underscored just how much the two hosts have demonstrated a united front through it all.
“My first guest tonight is an Emmy-winning late-night talk show host who, thanks to the Trump administration, is now available for a limited time only,” Mr. Kimmel said when he introduced Mr. Colbert on to his show.
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The post Kimmel and Colbert, Joined in New York, Show a United Front appeared first on New York Times.
