Stephen Colbert Reacts to ABC ‘Indefinitely’ Pulling ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’

Stephen Colbert called Jimmy Kimmel’s indefinite removal from ABC’s lineup a form of “blatant censorship” at the taping of his Thursday, Sept. 18 Late Show.

On Wednesday, Sept. 17, ABC and Nextstar confirmed with PEOPLE that the show would be pulled due to Kimmel’s recent remarks about Charlie Kirk.

After the news of Kimmel’s removal, Colbert said during a Q&A before the taping of his Thursday, Sept. 18 show, per New York Post, “I’ll say this for my network. They wouldn’t have done this. Now regardless of what you think, that has already been done and how that looks, this is weak. This is blatant censorship.”

“With an autocrat, you cannot give an inch,” Colbert said, adding per CNBC, “Jimmy, I stand with you and your staff 100%.”

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ABC’s decision comes two days after Kimmel mentioned Kirk in his Monday, Sept. 15, monologue. Kirk was shot and killed during a speaking event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. He was 31.

During the monologue, Kimmel said in part, “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”

The news of Kimmel’s show comes exactly two months after Colbert, 61, announced that his show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, was canceled by CBS.

CBS’ decision came days after Colbert criticized the network’s parent company, Paramount, during his July 14 episode for its July 3 $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump. The president alleged that CBS News’ 60 Minutes deceptively edited an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. Paramount was in the process of completing a merger with the entertainment company Skydance, which required approval from Trump’s administration.

After the news of Colbert’s show was shared, Kimmel reacted via his Instagram Stories and shared a clip of Colbert from the Friday, July 17 broadcast and wrote, “Love you Stephen.”

He also took the opportunity to call out the network behind the decision. “F— you and all your Sheldons CBS.”