US talk show host Stephen Colbert has condemned the cancellation of fellow late-night star Jimmy Kimmel as a “blatant assault on freedom of speech”.

He used the opening of Thursday night’s edition of his Late Show to address the pulling of Jimmy Kimmel Live, over comments he made about the assassination of the right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk.

The move by Disney-owned ABC has been widely criticised, with the network accused of kowtowing to President Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, Jon Stewart, host of the Comedy Central’s Daily Show, appeared in a garish gold set, in parody of Mr Trump’s redesign of the White House, to tell viewers the episode would be “another fun, hilarious administration-compliant show”.

Stewart, playing the role of an over-the-top, politically obsequious TV host under authoritarian rule, lavished praise on the president and satirised his criticism of large cities and his deployment of the National Guard to fight crime.

“Coming to you tonight from the real (expletive), crime-ridden cesspool that is New York City. It is a tremendous disaster like no-one’s ever seen before. Someone’s National Guard should invade this place, am I right?” he said.

He then introduced his guest – Maria Ressa, a journalist and author of the book How To Stand Up To A Dictator.

Over at The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon told his audience he was “not sure what was going on” but that Kimmel is “a decent funny and loving guy and I hope he comes back”.

Fallon then promised viewers that in spite of people being “worried that we won’t keep saying what we want to say or that we will be censored” he was going to cover the president’s recent trip to the UK “just like I normally would”.

He was then replaced by a voiceover describing Mr Trump as “incredibly handsome” and “making America great again”.

Kimmel’s removal from the show he has hosted for two decades led to criticism that free speech was under attack.

But speaking on his visit to Britain, Donald Trump claimed he was suspended “because he had bad ratings”.

It came after fellow late-night host Stephen Colbert saw his programme cancelled earlier this year, which fans claimed was also down to his criticism of Mr Trump, who has since railed against Kimmel, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon.

Figures from both the worlds of entertainment and politics lined up to lament ABC’s removal of Kimmel.

Chat show doyenne David Letterman said people should not be fired just because they don’t “suck up” to what he called “an authoritarian” president.

During an appearance at The Atlantic Festival 2025 in New York on Thursday night, he added: “It’s no good. It’s silly. It’s ridiculous.

“I feel bad about this, because we all see where see this is going, correct? It’s managed media.”

Former US president Barack Obama wrote on X: “After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.

“This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent, and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating it.”

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