By Sohini Sengupta,Wikimedia Commons/gage Skidmore, Philip Romano Photo, Erin Scott, Montclair Film Festival
Copyright inquisitr
At first, Donald Trump‘s comment seemed like his typical political noise. When Stephen Colbert’s late-night show ended earlier this year, Trump posted on Truth Social that Jimmy Kimmel would be “next.” Many brushed it off as empty talk.
Now, ABC has paused Kimmel’s show indefinitely after his son’s health announcement. The timing raises eyebrows. Colbert, a frequent Trump critic, left amid rumors of corporate pressure as Paramount recently paid $16 million to settle a Donald Trump lawsuit. Weeks later, Kimmel, another vocal opponent known for sharp political jokes, steps away.
Donald Trump wasted no time when it came to gloating online.
“Kimmel has zero talent,” he wrote, adding the show’s ratings were worse than Colbert’s. What once sounded like bluster now feels unsettlingly precise. Is this coincidence, caution, or the dismantling of late-night comedy in Trump’s second term as President?
Late-night shows used to be playful spaces. Bill Clinton played saxophone. Obama slow-jammed the news. Even Trump let Jimmy Fallon mess up his hair for laughs. However, under Trump’s presidency, the jokes have turned sharper. Colbert called Trump Putin’s “[expletive language] holster.” Kimmel targeted MAGA supporters. Fallon tried keeping things light, but landed on Trump’s enemies list anyway.
Now, are networks pulling back? If so, why?
Rodney Taveira, a media expert from the University of Sydney, notes that politicians rarely held this much sway over late-night TV before. He points to past examples: The Smothers Brothers got pulled off the air in the 1960s for criticizing the Vietnam War. Bill Maher’s Politically Incorrect vanished after 9/11 when he called U.S. military actions “cowardly.”
Similar clashes are happening, but lawsuits and settlements have changed the game.
Another late night comic’s show is cancelled by the most fragile snowflake of all:
Donald Trump.
Welcome to fascism. The emperor will now tell you your opinion. https://t.co/u8r8SdFDAs
— revival.care (@RevivalCare) September 17, 2025
What stands out is Donald Trump’s role. He is enjoying and fueling late-night’s struggles. With Colbert off the air and Kimmel sidelined, Trump’s Truth Social wishlist (naming Fallon and Seth Meyers) targets his loudest critics. Meanwhile, he praises Fox’s Greg Gutfeld, calling him “better than all of them combined.” Gutfeld’s show leans Trump-friendly — an exception in today’s late-night landscape.
Elizabeth Warren has questioned whether Stephen Colbert’s show cancellation was politically motivated. She pointed out that the timing seems suspicious, coming right after Paramount paid Donald Trump a settlement. People in Hollywood are quietly saying the same thing: keeping Trump happy now costs less than keeping a comedian on air!
RELATED: Donald Trump Can’t Contain His Joy as Jimmy Kimmel’s Show Is Axed – Urges Other Networks to Fire Hosts
Emmys still award political satire shows like Hacks and The Studio.
But late-night comedy, which used to push boundaries, feels like it’s under pressure. Even Hacks touches on this when Jean Smart’s character faces a choice between her career and her principles, only to get cut off mid-speech.
Jean Smart winning 4 Emmys for hacks makes sense with my fantasy pic.twitter.com/ToYK4OLIyp
— (@heyjaeee) September 15, 2025
Late-night’s future might not be about ratings or cultural buzz anymore. It could come down to a more challenging question: will hosts keep poking fun at a president who fights back not with punchlines, but lawsuits, payoffs, and warnings that feel too real to ignore?
When Trump said Colbert was first and Kimmel was next, was he really reading from a script, then?
NEXT UP: White House Furious After South Park Humiliates Trump in Brutal Premiere—Dismisses Show as ‘Irrelevant’
