One day after “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was pulled off the air, comedian Seth Meyers slammed the Trump administration’s “crackdown” on free speech during his late-night show, while calling it a “privilege” to know Kimmel.
“Donald Trump is on his way back from a trip to the United Kingdom, where he was met with protest, while back here at home, his administration is pursuing a crackdown on free speech,” Meyers said before his “A Closer Look” segment.
“And completely unrelated, I just want to say before we get started here that I’ve always admired and respected Mr. Trump,” Meyers joked.
“I’ve always believed he was a visionary, an innovator, a great president, an even better golfer, and if you’ve ever seen me say anything negative about him, that’s just AI,” he sarcastically quipped.
The comedian, 51, then followed his sarcasm with a joke-filled monologue poking fun at Trump’s visit to the UK.
“Say what you will about the Trump administration, but the issue is clearly very important to them,” Meyers said, playing several clips of the president declaring he was “bringing back free speech in America.”
He then played several news clips and interviews about ABC’s decision to fire Kimmel — including remarks from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who stated the decision to axe the show took a page from an authorization playbook.
“May I just say, it is a privilege and honor to call Jimmy Kimmel my friend, the same way it is a privilege and honor to do this show every night. I wake up every day and count my blessings that I at least live in a country that purports to value freedom of speech,” Meyers said.
“We’re going to keep doing our show like we always do with enthusiasm and integrity,” Meyers said as a sound bite of a fart played over his words.
A guest appearance from actor Jason Bateman — who had earlier slammed Kimmel’s suspension — followed Meyers’ monologue.
His appearance comes on the heels of his remarks on the “Today” show Thursday morning, calling Kimmel’s suspension “troubling to say the least” and warning that “you just can’t stand by and let stuff like that go.”
The “Ozark” star, promoting his new Netflix series “Black Rabbit,” added that “we all have to really take a moment and figure how we feel about this type of thing,” telling host Craig Melvin, “especially, people doing what you do.”
But on “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” Bateman was tight-lipped about Kimmel for the entirety of his appearance.
Kimmel’s show was indefinitely suspended on Wednesday following the comedian’s controversial remarks about assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
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Kimmel, 57, said Monday night that the “MAGA gang” was trying to score political points off Kirk’s murder after the 31-year-old was shot dead on the campus of Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them,” Kimmel said during his monologue.
President Trump upped the ante with a Truth Social post late Wednesday, congratulating ABC for pulling Kimmel and calling upon NBC to do the same to Meyers.
“Great News for America: The ratings-challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible,” Trump wrote.
“That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT”
Meyers did not directly acknowledge Trump’s call for action during Thursday’s show.
The comedian frequently uses his nightly platform to skewer Trump, trading several jabs with the president over the years.
Just last month, the president fumed over NBC renewing the late-night host’s contract through 2028, calling Meyers one of the “least talented” on television and mocking his ratings.
“There is a sick rumor going around that Fake News NBC extended the contract of one of the least talented Late Night television hosts out there, Seth Meyers,” Trump said on Truth Social.
“He has no Ratings, Talent, or Intelligence, and the Personality of an insecure child. So, why would Fake News NBC extend this dope’s contract. I don’t know, but I’ll definitely be finding out!!!”
The insult came just weeks after Trump reveled in the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” on CBS. The show will end in May 2026.
On Monday, Meyers poked fun at another one of Trump’s weekend Truth Social posts, where he wrote, “I would rather go to ribbon cuttings than to ground breakings.”
“There goes the voice of the common man again,” Meyers deadpanned on “Late Night,” joking that Trump sounds like “a stand-up comic who got too rich and can’t relate to people anymore,” HuffPost reported.
Earlier this year, he also acknowledged Trump’s remarks that he had become “stuck” watching “Marble Mouth Meyers.”
“How bad is Seth Meyers on NBC, a ‘network’ run by a truly bad group of people — Remember, they also run MSDNC,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in January. “I got stuck watching Marble Mouth Meyers the other night, the first time in months, and every time I watch this moron I feel an obligation to say how dumb and untalented he is, merely a slot filler for the Scum that runs Comcast.”
“It has come to my attention that sometimes people who do not care for me get stuck watching my show. And to those people, I would just say: You have my sympathy, and I hope you get a TV soon that allows you to change the channel,” Meyers fired back on air, according to Variety.
Meyers has previously criticized several other aspects of the Trump administration, including offering a sobering monologue to call for the president’s removal during the Jan. 6, 2021 riots.
In 2011, before Meyers hosted the late-night talk show, he hosted the White House Correspondents Dinner to mock Trump for his political aspirations, ego, and even hair.
“Donald Trump has been saying he will run for president as a Republican, which is surprising, since I just assumed he was running as a joke,” Meyers told the crowd — including Trump — while he was a mere “Saturday Night Live” comedian.
Nexstar Media Group, the major broadcast company that serves as a primary affiliate for ABC, confirmed that it would “preempt” Kimmel’s program in the wake of his remarks.
Sinclair, the nation’s largest ABC affiliate conglomerate, announced in a statement that their ABC stations “will air a special in remembrance of Charlie Kirk” this Friday during Kimmel’s time slot, and will continue to offer the special “across all Sinclair stations this weekend.”
During the 11:35 p.m. time slot — where a suited-up Kimmel typically interviews celebrity guests, delivers comedic monologues, and hosts musical performances — a rerun of “Celebrity Family Feud” played Thursday.
The game show hosted by Steve Harvey also took up the coveted late spot last night.
The broadcast group affirmed it would not lift the suspension of Kimmel’s show until formal discussions are held with ABC “regarding the network’s commitment to professionalism and accountability.”
Sinclair has also called on the talk show host to issue a “direct apology” to the Kirk family and make a “meaningful” personal donation to them and Kirk’s conservative group Turning Point USA.
