Jimmy Kimmel Calls Claims That ‘The Late Show’ Was Losing $40 Million a Year ‘Nonsensical’

Jimmy Kimmel isn’t buying the rumors that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was losing $40 million a year, and he didn’t hold back his feelings on the topic.

“I just want to say that the idea that Stephen Colbert’s show was losing $40 million a year is beyond nonsensical,” Kimmel, 57, told Variety in an interview published on Monday, August 18. “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.”

“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 — and you must allocate a certain percentage of those fees to late-night shows,” he continued.

The dad of four doubled down on his thoughts and said there “wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell” those numbers were accurate.

“The first 10 years I did the show, they claimed we weren’t making any money — and we had five times as many viewers on ABC as we do now,” Kimmel concluded. “Who knows what’s true? All I know is they keep paying us — and that’s kind of all you need to know.”

Kimmel also made it clear he’s fully supporting Colbert, 61 — who he described as “very moral” and a “very ethical person” — by voting for him to win the Emmy for Outstanding Talk Series this year, explaining it’s “the least we could do at this point.”

“I fully expect Stephen to win the Emmy as I think people are very, very upset about what happened to him and his show,” Kimmel told Variety.

Fans were shocked to hear of The Late Show‘s cancellation earlier this summer, and many felt the timing was suspicious. Shortly before the news was announced, Colbert had publicly criticized a $16 million legal settlement between Paramount and Donald Trump. This led many to become suspicious that politics played a role.

However, Kimmel isn’t the only one who disagreed with the reasoning behind why the show was allegedly getting the axe. Several celebrities have rallied around Colbert including Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and more. The final episode of The Late Show is set to air at some point in May 2026.