Jimmy Fallon Expected to Crash ‘Late Show’ to Support Colbert
The NBC late-night rival sang Stephen Colbert’s praises last week after CBS cancelled the show.
Taylor Hill/Getty
The Late Show‘s Stephen Colbert is set to get a little help from his comedy friends after CBS’ shocking decision to cancel his show.
The Tonight Show‘s Jimmy Fallon, Colbert’s late-night rival on NBC, is expected to swing by The Late Show‘s set at New York’s Ed Sullivan Theater on Monday to support Colbert, according to the New York Post. A number of other comedians are also set to appear, according to the Post, though the outlet did not specify who. LateNighter later reported that Seth Meyers, Jon Stewart, and John Oliver all made in-person appearances during the live taping as well.
A representative for Fallon did not comment. A representative for Colbert did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two have not appeared in person on each other’s shows since Colbert took over The Late Show. The show of force comes as the comedy world was left shocked by CBS’ sudden announcement on Thursday that it would cancel the highest-rated show in late-night television.
Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon have been friends for years. Colbert's last appearance on "The Tonight Show" was in 2014.
Lloyd Bishop/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
Colbert’s final episode will air in May 2026.
CBS claimed in a statement that the cancellation was “purely a financial decision,” but it came three days after Colbert took its parent company, Paramount Global, to task for settling President Donald Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, which the lawsuit claimed had been deceptively edited.
Fallon, his NBC colleague Seth Meyers, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, and other top comedians have publicly praised Colbert since the news came out.
“Stephen is one of the sharpest, funniest hosts to ever do it. I really thought I’d ride this out with him for years to come,” Fallon wrote on Instagram on Friday. “I’m sad that my family and friends will need a new show to watch every night at 11:30. But honestly, he’s really been a gentleman and a true friend over the years—going back to The Colbert Report.”
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Kimmel also expressed his love for Colbert on Thursday—without mincing words for CBS. “F--- you and all your Sheldons CBS,” he wrote.
David Letterman, who created The Late Show and was its longtime host, has not publicly commented on the network’s decision. But his eponymous YouTube account has offered clues, sharing a 2006 interview Letterman conducted with Colbert and a 20-minute montage of the host bashing CBS.
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