We’ll have to wait until Tuesday night to hear what Jimmy Kimmel has to say, but his friends and late-night colleagues Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Seth Meyers were in full celebration mode on their shows Monday night as the news broke of Kimmel’s return shortly before taping. (Jimmy Fallon was the only late-night host on duty who did not address the news on-air.)
“Jimmy Kimmel is coming back to television!” Jon Stewart announced near the top of Monday night’s Daily Show to cheers from his audience. Stewart was quick to point out the role of public pressure—or at least the threat of it. “The campaign that you all launched, pretending that you were going to cancel Hulu while secretly racing through four seasons of Only Murders in the Building really worked,” he joked.
He highlighted how difficult it is to boycott Disney given its reach across entertainment, from Marvel films to Monday Night Football. Stewart also stressed the political backdrop, noting the FCC threat that followed Donald Trump’s criticism. “If Donald Trump wanted to take everyone off the air who had criticisms for him, there would basically only be a handful of individuals left on television,” he said.
Stephen Colbert opened his show by declaring an end to our “long national late night-mare,” before taking a moment to speak from the heart. “This is wonderful news for my dear friend Jimmy and his amazing staff. They can continue their show. I’m so happy for them.”
Colbert also took aim at Disney’s decision-making. Colbert pointed to the spike in searches for “Cancel Disney+” and “Cancel Hulu” that coincided with Kimmel’s suspension. “Here’s why Disney folded… they put Kimmel back on because you, the American people, were upset.”
Colbert wrapped the segment with a bit of self-deprecation. “Plus, now that Jimmy’s not being canceled…once more, I am the only martyr in late night!” he joked, before mockingly turning to his own network. “Wait. Unless… CBS, you want to announce anything? Still no? Right, ’cause the money thing. I forgot.”
On Late Night, Seth Meyers tied Kimmel’s comeback to resilience against political pressure. “It is possible to stand up to this kind of bullying and censorship,” he said, citing Trump’s failed lawsuit against The New York Times.
Meyers then shared the news with his audience as it came in: “Minutes before we started taping, we got word that our friend, Jimmy Kimmel, will be back on the air tomorrow. That’s great news.”
All eyes now turn to Kimmel Tuesday night as he returns to ABC in what’s likely to be the most closely-watched late-night episodes in recent memory.
