Fake Jimmy Kimmel monologue spreads after Stephen Colbert show cancellation

"I'm not afraid of Trump's threats," Kimmel appears to say in the video, which shows him speaking before cutting between clips of Trump and Colbert.

"Worst case, they'll just fire me," the voice says. "After Stephen got fired, CBS actually said it was to cut costs and had nothing to do with anyone else. Oh my god, Mr. President, the thing you care about most every day is a late-night host rambling at 1 am. I'm so touched; I almost want to send you an autographed photo of myself."

The speaker later adds: "I used to think the biggest risk of being a late-night host was telling a bad joke and being met with silence from the audience. Turns out, I was wrong. The real risk is suddenly realizing the guy next door telling jokes just got fired, and now you're the next turkey waiting for slaughter."

The video spread across X, Facebook and Threads after CBS announced July 17, 2025 that "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" would end in 2026.

"Jimmy Kimmel throws it down for Stephen Colbert and the freedom of speech," one Threads post says.

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Screenshot from Threads taken July 21, 2025

The cancellation of Colbert's show came shortly after the comedian blasted parent company Paramount's $16 million settlement with Trump -- who had sued on allegations that CBS News' "60 Minutes" program deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival Kamala Harris -- as "a big fat bribe."

CBS said the move was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night," but the company has been widely accused of seeking to curry favor with Trump as Paramount seeks federal approval to close a merger with the entertainment company Skydance. Some Democrats and the Writers Guild of America have called for investigations.

In his July 21, 2025 monologue, Colbert disputed his network's logic and attacked the US leader.

Trump, meanwhile, responded to the show's termination with glee, writing on his Truth Social platform July 18 (archived here): "I absolutely love that Colbert' got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next." On July 22, he added (archived here): "The word is, and it's a strong word at that, Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes ...  It's really good to see them go, and I hope I played a major part in it!"

The video of Kimmel responding that he is "not afraid of Trump's threats" and poking fun at the president is not authentic, however.

A spokesperson for ABC, which hosts the comedian's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" show, told AFP July 21 that the supposed monologue is fake and did not happen.

A representative for Kimmel also confirmed July 21 that the speech is fake.

Kimmel did offer an expression of support for Colbert on his Instagram story, and he later took a dig at Trump by sharing a photo of his family holding anti-Trump protest signs (archived here).

But the comedian has not hosted his show since Colbert's cancellation (archived here). As in years past, Kimmel stepped away for a summer holiday, saying during his June 19 episode that it would be his last show until September. Guest hosts, including actor Diego Luna and country music artist Jelly Roll, have filled in on the show in his stead.

Reverse image searches traced the fake video shared online to a TikTok account that marked it with the platform's disclaimer saying: "Creator labelled as AI-generated."

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Screenshot from TikTok taken July 21, 2025, with elements outlined by AFP

The Hiya.com voice-cloning detection tool within the Verification Plugin, also known as InVID-WeVerify, assessed video's audio as "likely AI-generated."

AFP has debunked other AI-generated content here.