President Trump has weighed in on the shock cancelation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and said Jimmy Kimmel, host of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, “is next.”
Colbert announced the cancelation of his talk show just a few days after he criticized the network’s parent company, Paramount, for its $16 million settlement with Donald Trump over the president’s claim that CBS News deceptively edited an interview with the then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris. CBS has insisted it was a “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”
The settlement, and the announcement of the end of The Late Show, come amid Paramount’s bid to get its $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media over the line. The transaction needs regulatory approval from the Trump administration, and Trump is often the butt of Colbert’s jokes.
Colbert, who has hosted the show for the last decade, called the settlement “a big fat bribe” during an episode aired earlier this week.
Now, in a post on his social media network Truth Social, Trump expressed delight at the recent developments, and issued a warning to fellow talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, who he suggested will be next for the chopping block.
“I absolutely love that Colbert got fired,” Trump said. “His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!”
Kimmel had expressed support for Colbert in a post on Instagram yesterday, saying: “Love you Stephen. F*ck you and all your Sheldons CBS.”
Trump then praised Fox News late-night comedian Greg Gutfeld, calling him better than Colbert, Kimmel, and “the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show” — a clear reference to Jimmy Fallon.
Kimmel had expressed concern about Trump potentially coming after comedians, telling Variety last month: “Well, you’d have to be naive not to worry a little bit. But that can’t change what you’re doing. And maybe it is naive, but I have the hope that if and when the day comes that he does start coming after comedians, that even my colleagues on the right will support my right to say what I like. Now, I could be kidding myself, and hopefully we’ll never find out. But if we do, I would hope that the outrage is significant.”
Colbert’s announcement sparked criticism from various quarters online. Senator Adam Schiff, a Democrat who appeared as a guest on Thursday night’s show, later took to social media to say: “If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.”
On the show, Schiff said Trump had created a “climate of fear.”
“He wants to make the law firms afraid,” Schiff said. “He wants to make universities afraid. He wants to make immigrants afraid. He wants to make citizens afraid. He wants to make news organizations, CBS and Paramount afraid. He wants to make ABC afraid. And he is succeeding.”
CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that looks like bribery.
America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.
Watch and share his message. pic.twitter.com/Rz7HcWFLYM
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) July 18, 2025
Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has called for an investigation into Paramount Global’s relationship with Trump over the Skydance merger, wrote: “CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump — a deal that looks like bribery. America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.”
Photo by Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
