In a rare show of late-night solidarity, Jimmy Kimmel is taking the night off. Jimmy Kimmel Live! will air a rerun on May 21, the same evening Stephen Colbert hosts his final episode of The Late Show, out of respect for the departing host.
Kimmel confirmed the decision to Late Nighter, ensuring that Colbert won't face competition from the ABC juggernaut on his final night. With Kimmel going dark, Colbert's only real rival will be The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
It's a classy move in a late-night landscape that has shifted considerably. Colbert hosted The Late Show for 11 years after taking over from David Letterman in 2015, turning the 11:30 p.m. slot into one of television's most-watched programs. The show won Emmy and Peabody Awards—but none of that mattered when CBS made the cancellation official last July.
The network called it a "purely financial decision," but the timing raised eyebrows everywhere. Colbert had been a vocal Trump critic for years, and some observers connected the cancellation to CBS parent company Paramount's merger negotiations with Skydance, negotiations that still required government approval.
Kimmel and Colbert have never been rivals in the traditional sense. They're friends in an industry where egos can run wild. After Colbert's cancellation and Kimmel's own dust-up with the Trump administration over a joke, the two strengthened their bond last fall, appearing on each other's shows to commiserate about the chaos in late-night television.
Kimmel stepping back for Colbert's finale is less a ratings sacrifice and more a standing ovation for an 11-year institution.
