‘Fun way to drive the president nuts’: Kimmel and Colbert share stage in late-night show crossover

WASHINGTON, DC: In an unprecedented late-night television crossover, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert appeared as guests on each other’s shows on Tuesday, September 30.

They used the occasion to joke about the cancellation of Colbert’s ‘The Late Show’, the suspension of ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ and to take pointed swipes at President Donald Trump.

“We’re doing something unprecedented tonight…We thought it might be a fun way to drive the president nuts,” Kimmel told viewers during his opening.

He went on to call the collaboration “the show the FCC doesn’t want you to see,” before highlighting roadside signs in Los Angeles declaring: “Public pressure works—Kimmel is back!” and “Now do Colbert.”

Stephen Colbert reacts to his show’s cancellation

During his appearance on Kimmel’s show, Colbert recounted how he learned of his show’s cancellation from their shared manager, James Dixon, just after returning from vacation. His wife, unaware of the situation, jokingly asked, “What happened, did you get canceled?”

Kimmel revealed he was at a protest with his family when he heard the news and said he was “absolutely shocked because it’s not right.”

Colbert also played a clip from his own taping, showing his real-time reaction to Kimmel’s suspension. Stepping off stage after saying “wow” several times and telling the audience, “I want to find out what this is about.”

Jimmy Kimmel on his suspension: ‘It was very strange’

Kimmel told Colbert’s audience that his nearly week-long suspension was “an emotional roller coaster.”

He said he found out about the suspension just an hour and a half before he was set to tape his show on September 17. He ended up taking a call from the network executives in the bathroom, where they told him they wanted to “take the temperature down” and they thought the best way forward was to pull the current show off the air that night. 

“The audience had already been seated,” Kimmel recalled. “I started booing myself when they told me.”

He admitted he initially thought his career was over, saying, “That’s it. It’s over…I’m never coming back on the air.”

Stephen Colbert accuses Trump of celebrating their unemployment

Both comedians also turned their attention to Trump. Colbert asked whether Kimmel ever imagined a president would celebrate his unemployment.

Kimmel replied, “I mean, that son of a b***h…No, I never imagined that we’d ever have a president like this. I never imagined there would ever be a situation in which the president of our country was celebrating hundreds of Americans losing their jobs. That to me is the absolute opposite of what a leader of this country is supposed to be.”

Kimmel later posted a photo on Instagram with Colbert and fellow late-night host Seth Meyers, captioned: “Hi Donald!”

Seth Meyers makes cameo in Jimmy Kimmel monologue

Seth Meyers also made a brief cameo during Kimmel’s opening monologue, appearing alongside his brother Josh Meyers, who played California Gov Gavin Newsom in a skit.

The segment poked fun at Kimmel’s suspension before concluding with Kimmel’s line: “We’re back on now…You didn’t know that?”