"I lost the vote": Jimmy Kimmel details how he found out show being cancelled

Jimmy Kimmel appeared as a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on September 30 and opened up about the day the show was removed from ABC, acknowledging that he thought his television career was over. He said:

"I lost the vote."

Jimmy Kimmel told Stephen Colbert that he was in the middle of getting ready for a show when he found out about ABC's decision and that he had to step inside the bathroom to take the call in private.:

“I’m in my office typing as I usually do and I get a phone call. It’s ABC. They say they want to talk to me, this is unusual. As far as I knew, they didn’t even know I was doing a show previous to this. I have a lot of people who work in my office with me, so the only private place to go is the bathroom.”

Kimmel claims that executives expressed concern to him about his planned monologue after he made controversial comments over the passing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk:

“So I go into the bathroom and I’m on the phone with the ABC executives, and they say, ‘Listen, we want to take the temperature down. We’re concerned about what you’re going to say tonight and we decided that the best route is to take the show off the air.’ I said, ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea’ and they said, ‘Well, we think it’s a good idea.’ And then there was a vote, and I lost the vote."

Jimmy Kimmel acknowledged that as soon as he hung up, he went and told his producers that they were pulling the show:

"I walked out to my office and I called in some of the executive producers, and I said, ‘They’re pulling the show off the air.’”

When Colbert asked Kimmel about his initial feelings following the cancelation, the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! had a direct response:

“I thought, that’s it. It’s over. I was like I’m never coming back on the air. That’s really what I thought.”

He recounted breaking the news to his producers and writers. He joked that his wife had joked about the stressful incident. She made fun of his looks, calling him "whiter than Jim Gaffigan."

According to reports at the time, Disney officials and network affiliates believed that there was "no way back" for the host. Some even suggested that Kimmel was ready to walk away, leaving everything behind rather than going back under ABC's terms.

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Jimmy Kimmel's suspension led to backlash

The decision to remove Jimmy Kimmel Live! caused a stir in both political and entertainment circles. Celebrities, including actor Jake Ferree and writer David Reed, expressed support for Kimmel, while some senators, governors and other politicians described the move as an attack on free speech.

Barack Obama and Kamala Harris took to X, where Obama wrote:

“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.”

Meanwhile, Kamala Harris wrote that "the People, deserve better”:

“We cannot dare to be silent or complacent in the face of this frontal assault on free speech. We, the People, deserve better.”

Similarly, Hillary Clinton, in an interview with CNN, said:

“I think this is a very clear example of using the, the power of the state to suppress speech. It is a direct government action to try to intimidate employers, organizations, corporations, much of which we’ve already seen, to remove an opponent, even though it’s a comic.”

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Suspensions lifted after a week

Disney and ABC lifted the suspension after a week, letting Jimmy Kimmel Live! to resume airing. With Kimmel's monologue garnering millions of views on YouTube and other media, the return episode brought in the greatest ratings the show has seen in years.

Colbert said on The Late Show in celebration of his colleague's return:

"Wonderful news from my dear friend Jimmy and his amazing staff. You know, I’m so happy for them. Plus, now that Jimmy’s not being canceled, I get to enjoy this again."

as he showed off his Emmy trophy.

Jimmy Kimmel, Colbert, and fellow host Seth Meyers shared a photo with the caption, "Hi Donald!" in an attempt to poke fun at President Trump, who had openly applauded at the show's temporary suspension.

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