Kimmel, never one to hold back, called the report “beyond nonsensical,” raising sharp questions about how media companies count profits — and whether Colbert’s exit is really about money at all.

The cancellation of *The Late Show with Stephen Colbert* has become one of the most controversial stories in television this year, and now fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel is firing back at reports claiming the show was hemorrhaging tens of millions annually.

Kimmel, who has hosted *Jimmy Kimmel Live!* on ABC since 2003, dismissed the figure as “beyond nonsensical” in a recent interview, adding a fiery new chapter to an already explosive debate about the economics of late-night television.

Last month, CBS shocked viewers and the entertainment industry when it announced that *The Late Show with Stephen Colbert* would officially end in May 2026.

The network said the decision was strictly financial and not a reflection on Colbert’s performance, audience, or content.

“We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire *The Late Show* franchise at that time,” CBS said in its statement, adding that Colbert and his show would forever be remembered among the greats of late-night history.

But even as CBS framed the decision as a strategic move, industry chatter quickly turned to a report from journalist Matt Belloni, who wrote in Puck News that Colbert’s program had been “losing more than \$40 million a year.”

According to Belloni, the show had struggled to adapt to streaming platforms like Paramount+, and among the three major late-night shows, Colbert’s had the weakest presence on YouTube and other digital platforms.

He noted that sources at both CBS and Skydance Media — the company preparing to acquire Paramount Global in an \$8 billion merger — supported the business rationale for canceling Colbert’s program.

That claim didn’t sit well with Kimmel. During an interview with *Variety*, the longtime ABC host pushed back against the numbers, questioning both their accuracy and the expertise of those promoting them.

“I just want to say that the idea that Stephen Colbert‘s show was losing \$40 million a year is beyond nonsensical,” Kimmel said bluntly.

“These alleged insiders who supposedly analyze the budgets of the shows — I don’t know who they are, but I do know they don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Kimmel argued that the analysis unfairly focused only on advertising revenue while ignoring affiliate fees, which are a major piece of the financial puzzle for network television.

“They seem to only be focused on advertising revenue and have completely forgotten about affiliate fees, which number in the hundreds of millions — probably in total billions,” Kimmel explained.

“And you must allocate a certain percentage of those fees to late-night shows.” He insisted that when those revenues are factored in, the picture looks very different.

The comedian, who has navigated his own share of ups and downs in the ratings over his two-decade career, pointed to his own experience as proof that media narratives about late-night finances can be wildly misleading.

“It really is surprising how little the media seems to know about how the media works,” he said.

“There’s just not a snowball’s chance in hell that that’s anywhere near accurate.” Kimmel went further, recalling that during his first decade on ABC, critics often claimed his show wasn’t profitable, despite pulling in far larger audiences than today.

“Even then they said we weren’t making money — and we had five times as many viewers as we do now. Who knows what’s true? All I know is they keep paying us — and that’s kind of all you need to know.”

Colbert, who took over *The Late Show* from David Letterman in 2015, brought his signature political wit to CBS and quickly made the program a cultural touchstone during the Trump presidency.

His nightly monologues, often aimed at skewering the administration, became viral hits on social media and established Colbert as a powerful voice in political satire.

At his peak, Colbert topped the ratings among late-night hosts, overtaking Jimmy Fallon’s *Tonight Show* on NBC and carving out a loyal fanbase.

But in recent years, with audiences shifting to digital platforms, Colbert’s show faced mounting challenges.

Unlike Fallon, whose goofy sketches and celebrity games are tailor-made for YouTube clips, or Kimmel, who has leaned on viral segments like “Mean Tweets,” Colbert’s program relied heavily on topical political humor and long-form celebrity interviews.

While those resonated with live audiences, they did not generate the same digital traction.

Industry insiders pointed out that this weaker online presence may have hurt the show’s overall financial performance, particularly as Paramount tried to bolster its streaming platform, Paramount+, against heavyweights like Netflix and Disney+.

Adding further complexity to the debate is the political climate. Colbert was one of the most consistent critics of Donald Trump, and some have speculated that his relentless satire may have made CBS vulnerable during its corporate maneuvering, particularly as Paramount Global seeks regulatory approval for its merger with Skydance Media.

Though CBS has denied politics played any role in its decision, the timing of the cancellation amid high-stakes corporate negotiations has fueled suspicion.

For now, Colbert is expected to continue hosting *The Late Show* until May 2026, when the program will officially end after an 11-year run under his stewardship.

CBS has said it will not attempt to replace Colbert with another host but will instead retire *The Late Show* franchise entirely, closing a chapter in late-night history that dates back to Letterman and even further to Johnny Carson’s era.

Meanwhile, Kimmel’s outspoken defense of Colbert highlights a broader truth about the late-night world: while competition for viewers is fierce, there remains a sense of fraternity among hosts who understand the pressures of the format.

Kimmel has often been candid about the challenges of keeping his own show relevant in an era where TikTok trends dominate attention spans and traditional network audiences continue to shrink.

Yet his remarks make clear that he sees Colbert’s legacy as far more valuable than the bleak financial picture painted by reports.

For Kimmel, dismissing Colbert’s contributions as a financial drain not only insults a colleague but also misrepresents the complex economics of late-night TV. “They keep paying us,” Kimmel said with a wry laugh. “And that’s all you need to know.”

As the countdown to Colbert’s final season begins, the debate over whether CBS was making a shrewd business move or prematurely cutting short one of its most important cultural platforms will likely continue.

But one thing is certain: the end of *The Late Show with Stephen Colbert* has left the late-night landscape looking more uncertain than ever — and has given comedians like Jimmy Kimmel a fresh reason to remind critics that the business of comedy is never as simple as the numbers suggest.