Stephen Colbert gleefully reacts to Jimmy Kimmel’s return to air

Stephen Colbert has responded to the news that Jimmy Kimmelwill return to air on Tuesday, declaring that “our long national late nightmare is over.” Well, partially over at least.

“This is wonderful news for my dear friend Jimmy and his amazing staff… I’m so happy for them. Plus, now that Jimmy’s not being cancelled, I get to enjoy this again,” said Colbert, brandishing his newly won Emmy Award from last week. 

Colbert had been up against Kimmel for the award, but understandably found it difficult to celebrate amidst his fellow nominees’ suspension.

“Once more, I am the only martyr in late night,” Colbert continued, referencing his own show’s untimely cancellation. “Wait. Unless… CBS, you want to announce anything? Still no? Right, ’cause of the money thing, I forgot.”

CBS cancelled Colbert’s long-running talk show in July, days after he accused its parent company Paramount of paying a bribe to President Donald Trump. The Trump administration approved Paramount’s $8 billion merger with Skydance one week later.

“After Kimmel was suspended, Google searches for ‘cancel Disney+‘ and ‘cancel Hulu‘ spiked,” Colbert noted, citing this as the reason Disney reinstated him. “Which explains why the other trending search was: ‘How to entertain feral child without Bluey?'”