Jimmy Kimmel Live! recently found a cheesy way to show solidarity with The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
On May 7, Kimmel’s show sent a pizza lunch to the Late Show staff, accompanied by a note that read: “Please don’t leave us. XO, your friends at Jimmy Kimmel Live”
The note also included an image of Kimmel and Colbert standing together backstage at The Late Show. The kicker: “#pizzagate.”
That last touch gave the gesture a particularly Colbertian layer. Back in 2016, Colbert found himself absurdly dragged into the far-right Pizzagate conspiracy theory, prompting a memorable Late Show segment in which he addressed the baseless claims head-on. Colbert used the moment to call out the spread of fake news and conspiracy thinking, including then-Trump adviser Michael Flynn’s promotion of the theory.
Nearly a decade later, Kimmel’s team turned that bizarre footnote into an inside joke—and a morale boost—for Colbert’s staff as The Late Show headed into its final stretch.
Kimmel and Colbert have shared an unusually close relationship for time slot rivals, with Kimmel serving as one of Colbert’s staunchest defenders since the host announced The Late Show‘s cancellation late summer.
In the immediate aftermath of the announcement, Kimmel took to social media with a blunt message: “Love you Stephen. F*ck you and all your Sheldons CBS.” Over the ensuing months, the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host used his own Emmy campaign to urge Academy voters to cast their ballots for Colbert instead, and forcefully rejected CBS’s narrative that the cancellation was “purely a financial decision,” calling leaked reports that the show was racking up $40 million in annual losses “beyond nonsensical.”
As LateNighter first reported last week, in another show of solidarity, Kimmel will go dark on the night of Colbert’s finale, clearing the field and airing a repeat so as not to compete for audience attention during The Late Show‘s sendoff.
