Stephen Colbert has just extended his support for Jimmy Kimmel’s Emmy campaign. Decades ago, late-night television was defined by fierce, high-stakes competition. Networks and hosts fought aggressively for every single viewer, treating ratings wars like zero-sum sports games. Public feuds and intense rivalries dominated headlines, cementing late-night television as an isolated, dog-eat-dog industry.

Today, the landscape of late-night TV looks entirely different. Facing massive industry shifts - including changing viewer habits, streaming fragmentation, and high-profile industry strikes - hosts are navigating unprecedented challenges. But rather than tearing each other down, modern late-night stars have realized they are in the same boat, turning mutual survival into a collective effort.

This camaraderie is visible across the airwaves through public displays of solidarity, and the most recent gesture comes from Stephen Colbert for his peer and fellow Emmy nominee, Jimmy Kimmel.

Stephen Colbert has endorsed Jimmy Kimmel in the recently redesigned Outstanding Variety Series category as the Emmy voting draws to a close, despite the fact that Colbert's own late-night program is vying in the same category. In a new Emmy FYC video via an Instagram post, the now-former The Late Show host reappeared on Tuesday and declared his pick for late-night's top yearly accolade. Colbert could have sent a letter to the network that dismissed him and supported his own program for an Emmy while sitting on a hillside busy shooting for his next Lord of the Rings film, but he chose to make a case for Jimmy Kimmel Live! host, his competitor in the category, in the sweetest way possible.

“I think we can all agree that Jimmy Kimmel deserves an Emmy,” he said in his video.

“I don’t care if you’ve never even seen his show, you know he deserves an Emmy,” Colbert added.

Then, with a picture of Kimmel in front of the camera, Colbert turned his tablet in the Instagram video and showered his peer with even more. 

"Besides, look how cute he is! In any case, don't forget that Jimmy is deserving of an Emmy," he exclaimed. In the post, Colbert tagged Kimmel, JKL, and Molly McNearney, Kimmel's wife and co-head writer/executive producer.

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Stephen Colbert’s support for Jimmy Kimmel comes a year after the latter endorsed him for an Emmy last year.

Stephen Colbert seems to be returning Jimmy Kimmel a favor by supporting him. Following CBS's decision to cancel The Late Show, Kimmel launched his own highly visible campaign on behalf of his opponent last year when they were vying for best talk series. He displayed himself on a billboard in West Hollywood with the words, "I'm voting for Stephen." It is hard to tell how much this stunt helped, but Colbert did end up winning the category last year.

The two hosts are competing for an Emmy this year, but the rules are considerably different. The former talk and scripted variety categories were combined by the Television Academy to create outstanding variety series. Colbert's 11-year tenure on CBS came to an end in May 2026 with the conclusion of The Late Show, and the final season got nominated for nine Emmys this year.

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What do you think of Stephen Colbert’s sweet gesture towards his fellow Emmy rival? Do let us know in the comments.