JIMMY Kimmel, Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert have joined forces in a talk show crossover to call out Donald Trump.
The three late night hosts appeared together in a post on Instagram on Tuesday night which simply read: “Hi Donald!”
Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert appeared together on Tuesday[/caption]
The Late Show host Colbert had been slated to appear on Kimmel Live![/caption]
The Late Show host Colbert had been slated to appear on Kimmel Live! and it appears Late Night star Meyers also joined them.
Their collaboration comes hot on the heels of Kimmel’s return to his show last week after ABC yanked him from the air.
Both Colbert and Meyers showed support for Kimmel in the wake of his suspension over controversial comments he made about political activist and influencer Charlie Kirk’s shooter.
In a post on his Truth Social platform after Kimmel’s suspension, Trump applauded ABC for “finally having the courage to do what had to be done” and claimed that Kimmel “has ZERO talent” — focusing on what he said were bad ratings.
He also took aim at other names in late-night TV, including Stephen Colbert, whose “Late Show” was canceled by CBS over the summer.
Shortly before Kimmel’s return show aired, Trump posted his first reaction to the host’s return on Truth Social.
“I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back,” he said, adding that the network was “in jeopardy” from “playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE.”
During his opening monologue, Kimmel took the time to speak out about free speech and the political climate in America.
The late night host took to the stage as he was welcomed with a standing ovation and chants of “Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy.”
The comedian opened the highly anticipated show with a crack, “If you’re just joining us, we are preempting your regularly scheduled encore episode of Celebrity Family Feud to bring you this special report.”
“I’m happy to be here tonight,” he added.
“I’m not sure who had a weirder 48 hours, me or the CEO of Tylenol,” he said with a chuckle.
Kimmel took the time to thank a slew of friends, including his fellow late-night talk show hosts Colbert, Jon Stewart, Meyers, and Jimmy Fallon.
He also thanked the many people who don’t align with his political leanings but who still stood up for his right to say it.
He thanked Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Candace Owens, Mitch McConnell, and then said “and even my old pal Ted Cruz,” before running a sound bite from the Texas senator.
Kimmel then continued “Some of the things they say even make me want to throw up but it takes courage for them to speak out against this administration. They did it. They deserve credit for it.”
ON HIS COMMENTS ON CHARLIE KIRK’S KILLER
The late-night host’s voice cracked as he opened up about the murder of activist Charlie Kirk and cleared the air, denouncing his killing unequivocally.
He continued, “I do want to make something clear, because it’s important to me as a human and that is you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” he said as he fought back tears.
“I posted a message on Instagram the day he was killed, sending love to [Kirk’s] family and asking for compassion, and I meant it, and I still do, nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual.”
“That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make. But I understand that to some that felt either it was ill-timed or unclear or maybe both, and for those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset,” he continued.
“If the situation was reversed, there’s a good chance I’d have felt the same way. I have many friends and family members on the other side who I love and remain close to, even though we don’t agree on politics at all, I don’t think the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk represents anyone.
“This was a sick person who believed violence was a solution and it isn’t it ever and also, selfishly, I am the person who gets a lot of threats. I get many ugly and scary threats against my life, my wife, my kids, my co workers because of what I choose to say, and I know those threats don’t come from the kind of people on the right who I know and love.”
“So that’s what I wanted to say on that subject,” he continued.
ON RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH
Kimmel then turned to the First Amendment, explaining that he’s spoken with comedians in countries like Russia and from the Middle East who said they’d be thrown in jail or worse for making fun of those in power.
“They know how lucky we are here.
“Our freedom to speak is what they admire most about this country, and that’s something I’m embarrassed to say I took for granted until they pulled my friend Steven [Colbert] off the air and tried to coerce the affiliates who run our show in the cities that you live in to take my show off the air.
“That’s not legal. That’s not American. That is un-American.”
He then turned his sites to Federal Communications Chairman, Brendan Carr.
“Brendan Carr, the chairman of the FCC, telling an American company, We can do this the easy way or the hard way,’ and that these companies can find ways to change conduct and take action on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead, in addition to being a direct violation of the First Amendment, is not a particularly intelligent threat to make in public,” Kimmel said.
The late night host then shared a clip of President Donald Trump vehemently heralding free speech in 2022.
He then played another quote from the president, which was from this week, in which he said of Kimmel “Look, he was fired. He had no talent. He’s a whack job, but he had no talent. More importantly, then no talent, because a lot of people who have no talent get ratings, he had no ratings,” to which Kimmel’s audience booed.
Kimmel then joked “He tried, did his best to cancel me instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show which backfired ‘bigly.’
“He might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this now,” to which his audience erupted in raucous applause.
He also expressed his gratitude to ABC for allowing him to speak freely over the years, but also said he did not agree with their decision for pulling him off the air last week.
He said after many conversations, “They welcomed me back on the air, and I thank them for that.”
He also said that because of that decision, he believes it puts ABC, and Kimmel’s own show staff, at risk with the Trump administration.
“Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke,” he said.
CHAOS ON SET
As The U.S. Sun exclusively revealed, the decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! was made just minutes before taping began on Wednesday, September 17th.
“Things transpired very fast. Word filtered down to the individual stations around 3 pm that Jimmy would get pulled, and it sent station heads panicking,” an insider shared.
“Jimmy and the crew were getting ready to film when, at 3:45 pm, news broke widely, and that’s how the crew found out. They were shocked.”
KIRK’S MURDER
Charlie Kirk was killed on September 10th while speaking with students at Utah Valley University in Orem.
Tyler Robinson, 22, allegedly fired a single shot at Kirk, according to officials.
