If the defense of late-night is a lost cause, Jimmy Kimmel will go down swinging.
The ABC comic told Variety in a recent interview that the money issues Paramount cited for their recent cancellation of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" were "nonsensical." Colbert's show, one of the top-rated programs in the genre, was cancelled permanently earlier this year, with the CBS parent company citing financial difficulties.
Others, however, didn't buy that explanation, positing instead that Paramount, which was hoping for approval of a merger from the Trump Administration's FCC, bent the knee to the president to grease the wheels. The merger was approved shortly after the cancellation was announced.
Colbert's cancellation: A ratings crisis or a political bribe? We investigate
Kimmel, whose own show is an institution in late-night comedy, falls firmly in that camp.
