Stephen Colbert Celebrates Being Late Night’s ‘Only Martyr’ After Kimmel’s ABC Return

Kimmel was “suspended indefinitely” on Wednesday (September 17) over comments he made about Charlie Kirk‘s fatal shooting on Monday’s (September 15) Jimmy Kimmel Live. This came after powerful station group Nexstar announced it would preempt the show on its 32 ABC affiliate stations late Wednesday.

“Just a few hours before we taped this broadcast, we got word that our long, national late-nightmare is over,” Colbert said at the top of Monday’s show. “Because Disney announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return to air on ABC tomorrow, Tuesday night. Come on!”

After saying, “This is wonderful news for my dear friend Jimmy and his amazing staff,” Colbert grabbed his recently won Emmy trophy and said, “Now that Jimmy’s not being canceled, I get to enjoy this again!”

“Once more, I’m the only martyr in late nights,” the host continued before turning to the camera and quipping, “Unless, CBS, you want to announce anything? Still no? Right, because of the money thing, I forgot.”

CBS canceled The Late Show back in July, with its final episode set to air in May 2026. CBS and its parent company, Paramount, have said only financial circumstances contributed to the decision.

Colbert had his theories on why Disney “folded” and reinstated Kimmel. “After Kimmel was suspended, Google searches for ‘cancel Disney Plus’ and ‘cancel Hulu’ spiked, which, explains why the other trending search was ‘how to entertain feral child without Bluey?” he said.

“So Disney put Kimmel back on because you, the American people, were upset,” the comedian continued. “But not just people, also Ted Cruz, one of the conservatives who were outraged by the administration’s attack on free speech.”

On his podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz, on Friday (September 19), Cruz spoke about Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr, who told right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take actions on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

“That’s right out of Goodfellas,” Cruz said. “That’s right, out of a mafioso coming into a bar, going, ‘Nice bar you have here. It’d be a shame if something happened to it.’”

“Wow, I gotta say, I am shocked that I agree with Ted Cruz on something,” Colbert said on Monday’s Late Show.

You can watch Colbert’s full opening monologue in the video above and let us know your thoughts below.

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