Staff Reports
Jimmy Kimmel’s latest meltdown — an expletive-laced social media post attacking CBS while pledging solidarity with Stephen Colbert — is the kind of performative tantrum Hollywood thinks will score points with its tribe. Instead of taking responsibility or reflecting, Kimmel doubled down and bragged about standing with a colleague whose show is being retired. The moment captures late-night’s self-serving culture of outrage and mutual back-patting.
CBS’s decision to end The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and retire the franchise next year was presented as a financial move, but many Americans smell politics and tired elitism behind the curtain. Networks are making choices based on convenience and political calculation, not the tastes of ordinary viewers who are sick of lectures after dinner. Colbert’s exit is a warning sign that the broadcast industry is unraveling because it abandoned neutrality and respect for the American public.
Now the industry’s double standard is even more obvious: while Kimmel staged his online victory lap for Colbert, ABC abruptly pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air after his own controversial commentary about a tragedy. Major affiliates refused to air the show and corporate pressure converged with political outrage to force a suspension, leaving staff and viewers blindsided. This isn’t just about one host’s bad judgment — it’s about a media culture that preaches free speech until it collides with consequences.
Conservative voices and even the former president publicly celebrated the network’s action, pointing out the hypocrisy of late-night elites who scorn conservative audiences while expecting protection from consequences. That reaction didn’t come from malice but from years of being mocked and marginalized by the Hollywood class. If networks think censorship and preferential treatment for their favored pundits will repair trust, they’re deluding themselves.
Talk of Kimmel and Colbert “teaming up” or staging a final humiliation tour is mostly theater — these hosts have grouped together before for projects that benefit their brands and their pockets. Remember the short-lived supergroup podcast these late-night figures launched during the strikes, when they combined forces to monetize grievance and stay relevant to each other’s audiences. What they build on stage is not solidarity with everyday Americans, it’s an echo chamber protecting an insider class.
Here’s the truth hardworking Americans already know: late-night TV has been a one-sided soapbox for too long, and when push comes to shove the networks act like political commissars instead of neutral broadcasters. We should demand fair treatment, accountability, and programming that respects the diversity of our country rather than preaches to a shrinking coastal elite. The choice is simple — stop rewarding outrage and partisan theater by changing the channel and voting with your attention.
Patriots who love this country must call out hypocrisy wherever it appears, whether it’s Hollywood tantrums or corporate kowtowing to political pressure. Let the networks know that America wants comedy, not lectures; professionalism, not performative rage; and fairness, not favoritism. If we don’t hold them accountable now, the next casualty of their culture will be not just a show but the idea that public airwaves serve all Americans equally.
