Jimmy Kimmel erupts over questions about late-night TV's relevance in star-studded 'Late Show' episode

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel demanded to know why Stephen Colbert was being asked to make a case for Late Night's existence during "The Late Show" alongside Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon and John Oliver on Monday.

Colbert said he had been asked to make the case for late-night television several times in interviews leading up to his show's end. He posed the question to the other members of the late-night TV community during their joint appearance on Monday. 

"I would say I look at the figures, and the fact of the matter is more people are watching late-night television now — I know everybody gets crazy — than when Johnny Carson, obviously Johnny Carson had a lot of people watching one show. But we have a lot of shows, 30,000 people watching each one, and it adds up. People watch us on YouTube now. People have a lot of different options, and yet they still, they keep coming to us," Kimmel said. 

"Why should you have to defend late night? Why should that question even be asked?" Kimmel asked Colbert. "Like Ryan Seacrest doesn’t get asked [about] 'Wheel of Fortune' or whatever the hell he’s hosting."

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Colbert also asked the group of late-night hosts if there was anything the group hadn't touched on in the appearance meant to mark the end of "The Late Show," coming up on May 21.

"The outrage that your show is being thrown off the air?" Kimmel responded. "I am waiting for angry Stephen to come out. I want to see you go nuts."

The audience then started chanting Colbert's name.

"That's exactly what they shouted at Bruce Banner in the lab before things went south," Oliver chimed in, referencing the Marvel character Hulk. 

Kimmel added, "When this guy takes off his glasses and shakes out his hair, it's the sexiest god---- thing that you've ever seen."

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The late-night host also took shots at CBS during the appearance, noting that people canceled their Disney+ subscriptions when Kimmel was taken off the air.

"Why aren't you people canceling Paramount+? Because you didn't have it in the first place?" Kimmel quipped.

Fox News Digital reached out to Paramount for comment but did not immediately hear back. 

Kimmel told LateNighter that he won't be airing a new episode the night of Colbert's final show.

The late-night host did the same for David Letterman's finale.

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CBS announced in 2025 that "The Late Show" would be canceled at the end of its season in May.

The network cited financial reasons for the show's cancellation at the time. Many politicians and commentators suggested at the time it had to do with pressure from the Trump administration.

Colbert said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that while there does not appear to be definitive proof that his show was canceled for political reasons, he thinks it's the most likely explanation.

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Despite acknowledging the traditional broadcast model was in trouble amid a changing media landscape, he suggested, "There are many people who believe there was another reason. And, as I said in the most measured tones I could muster, there is a reason why people believe that. The network had clearly already done it once by cutting that $16 million check [to the Trump administration]."