Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel used his appearance at the 2026 Oscars on Sunday night to stand on his anti-American high horse; the response from the audience comprised of the Hollywood elite proved their lack of understanding reality.
“We hear a lot about courage at shows like this but telling a story that could get you killed for telling it is real courage. As you know there are some countries whose leaders don’t support free speech. I’m not at liberty to say which. Let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS,” he said.
CBS announced last year that Colbert’s late-night program would be ending, describing the move as a financial decision. Breitbart News reported on the network’s decision statement:
“We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire ‘The Late Show’ franchise in May of 2026,” executives said in a statement. “We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television. This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”
The announcement came only days after Stephen Colbert criticized his company’s $16 million settlement with Donald Trump, describing it as a “big, fat bribe” connected to the Skydance merger. Critics of the cancellation argued the move amounted to political retaliation.
Kimmel also made a jab related to a documentary about Melania Trump while introducing the documentary category.
“Fortunately for all of us there’s an international community of filmmakers dedicated to telling the truth, oftentimes at great risk to make films that teach us, that call out injustice, that inspire us to take action, and there are also documentaries where you walk around the White House trying on shoes,” he said.
“Oh, man, is he going to be mad his wife wasn’t nominated for this,” Kimmel later added.