Kimmel confirmed he will air a repeat on May 21, clearing the field for Colbert’s “Late Show” finale.
LOS ANGELES — Jimmy Kimmel announced Monday that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will not air a new episode on May 21, the same night Stephen Colbert hosts the final broadcast of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on CBS.
Kimmel personally confirmed the decision to LateNighter, saying his ABC show will not produce a new episode next Thursday out of respect for Colbert’s sendoff. The show is set to air new episodes Monday through Wednesday next week, followed by a rerun on Thursday as Colbert signs off.
“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” is currently still scheduled to air a new episode that night.
Kimmel and Colbert have long been more friends than rivals, both appearing on one another’s shows after Colbert’s cancellation and Kimmel’s own run-in with the Trump administration over a joke about the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk.
Kimmel made a similar move in 2015 when David Letterman retired from the same CBS franchise. At the time, Kimmel said he had too much respect for Letterman to risk drawing viewers away from the historic sendoff.
“I have too much respect for Dave to do anything that would distract viewers from watching his final show,” he said at the time. “Plus, I’ll probably be crying all day, which makes it hard to work.”
The announcement comes as the final weeks of “The Late Show” have taken on the feel of a late-night reunion. Fallon, Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver joined Colbert for a “Strike Force Five” reunion episode Monday night — named after the podcast the five hosts co-produced during the 2023 writers’ strike.
They announced a reunion for a special video episode of “Strike Force Five” that will be available on May 13, Deadline reported.
David Letterman is set to appear on the show on May 14.
Other guests stopping by as the show winds down include John Krasinski, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Pedro Pascal and Tom Hanks, as well as a “Colbert Questionert” segment with former President Barack Obama.
When does “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” end?
The final episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” will air Thursday, May 21, on CBS. Colbert has hosted “The Late Show” for 11 years, taking over from David Letterman in 2015. The show earned numerous accolades over its run, including an Emmy and a Peabody Award.
CBS announced in July 2025 that it was canceling “The Late Show,” citing financial reasons rather than the show’s content. The timing drew immediate scrutiny. Many prominent voices called the cancellation an act of censorship, as the move came during a period when parent company Paramount was seeking FCC approval for its sale to Skydance. Colbert, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, had drawn repeated rebukes from the administration in the months prior.
The finale airs May 21 at 11:35 p.m. ET on CBS.
