Late-night TV legends are rallying around Jimmy Kimmel after ABC slapped him with an indefinite suspension for his bold remarks on the tragic shooting of conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk. The funnyman, known for hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live!, stirred controversy with his monologue on September 10, 2025, and now former rivals and peers are speaking out in support.
Jay Leno, the 75-year-old comedy icon who ruled The Tonight Show for years, shared his thoughts while attending Chris Wallace’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on September 18. Chatting with Access Hollywood, Leno kept it real: “I think Jimmy will land on his feet. He’s a talented guy, he’s funny, and let’s see what happens.” Despite their past beef, Leno added a positive note, saying Kimmel might be back on air in just a couple of weeks.
Leno, who’s no stranger to the spotlight, stressed the power of the audience. “It’s a comedian talking—if you don’t like it, don’t watch it. Let the people decide. If they like his show, it stays on the air. It’s as simple as that.” He even threw in some history, championing free speech with a nod to Patrick Henry: “Give me speech or give me death.” Leno made it clear he likes Kimmel and the whole late-night crew, including Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, and Seth Meyers, calling them “really talented.”
This comes after Kimmel’s fiery monologue on Monday, where he slammed the MAGA crowd for twisting the narrative around Kirk’s fatal shooting. 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. He also touched on the White House flying the flag at half-staff and the president’s visible grief. Kimmel reportedly stood firm, refusing to apologize, and his show remains off-air for now. Just days later, on Thursday, he was spotted smirking outside his lawyer’s office in Los Angeles—clearly not backing down.
Leno’s support is extra interesting given their rocky history. Back in 2010, on The Jay Leno Show, Kimmel roasted Leno over the infamous Tonight Show handover drama with Conan O’Brien. When Leno asked about the best prank, Kimmel quipped, “I told a guy that five years from now I’m going to give you my show, and then when the five years came, I gave it to him, and then I took it back almost instantly.” Ouch!
Leno reflected on that moment in an April 2025 interview with Graham Bensinger. “When Kimmel came on my show and humiliated me on my own show, I let it happen. I didn’t edit it. It was my mistake—I trusted somebody.” He owned it, saying, “Because it happened. It’s real. That’s how you learn.” Though it kicked off a feud that lingers, Leno shrugged it off: “He’s a comic—you do what you gotta do.” By 2017, Kimmel confirmed they’d buried the hatchet, especially after Leno reached out supportively during Kimmel’s son’s surgery.
Leno isn’t alone in defending Kimmel’s free speech rights. Other late-night hosts jumped in too. On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the host quipped, “Well, guys, the big story is that Jimmy Kimmel was suspended by ABC after pressure from the FCC, leaving everyone thinking, ‘WTF?'” Fallon, 51, added a heartfelt touch: “I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he is a decent, loving, funny guy. And I hope he comes back.”
Jon Stewart made a surprise Thursday appearance on The Daily Show, poking fun at the situation. Introduced as the “patriotically obedient host” of the “all-new government-approved” show, he joked about broadcasting from “a real s–thole, the crime-ridden cesspool that is New York City.” Stewart also took a swipe at Trump’s UK trip, saying it felt “off” without “our great father” home.
Over on Late Night with Seth Meyers, the 51-year-old host tied it to bigger issues: “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 praised Kimmel as a friend and celebrated living in a country that “purports to value freedom of speech”—complete with a cheeky fart sound effect for laughs. He vowed to keep the show going “with enthusiasm and integrity.”
Even David Letterman, 78, the trailblazing host of Late Night with David Letterman from 1982 to 1993, chimed in at the 2025 Atlantic Festival. “This is misery,” he said. “We see where this is all going—managed media. It’s no good. It’s silly. And you can’t go around firing somebody because you’re fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian criminal administration.” Letterman warned that in a dictatorship-like setup, “sooner or later, everyone is going to be touched.”
As the late-night world buzzes with support for Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension controversy, fans are left wondering: Will free speech win out, or is this the new normal for comedy TV? Stay tuned—these hosts aren’t holding back.
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