Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel has expressed disappointment with conservatives for not defending Stephen Colbert after CBS decided to cancel “The Late Show.” Kimmel made his comments during a recent interview, where he discussed the camaraderie among late-night hosts and their reaction to the cancellation.
“We are really close. We became especially close during the strike. We had long, fun conversations about how to handle the situation and decided to do a podcast. Now it’s a text chain — a frequent one. I think we were all shocked and disappointed that this kind of thing is happening in America, and also disappointed that we don’t see more people on the right stepping up and saying, ‘Hey, this is no good.’ Silencing comedians, commentators, whatever you want to call people… I have to say, if Joe Biden had used his muscle to get Sean Hannity kicked off the air, you may be surprised to learn that I would not support that. I would, in fact, support Sean Hannity in that situation, because I thought one of the founding principles of this country was free speech. But people don’t seem to care about protecting it unless you agree with them,” Kimmel said.
Reports have circulated that Colbert’s show was losing as much as $40 million annually before its cancellation. When asked about these reports, Kimmel responded: “I just want to say that the idea that Stephen Colbert‘s show was losing $40 million a year is beyond nonsensical. These alleged insiders who supposedly analyze the budgets of the shows — I don’t know who they are, but I do know they don’t know what they’re talking about.”
Kimmel’s remarks come amid ongoing criticism from conservative commentators who question why those on the right should defend late-night hosts who often criticize Republican figures on their shows.
