President Donald Trump is pictured here with Jimmy Kimmel during a 2015 appearance on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' Credit - Randy Holmes/Disney General Entertainment Content—Getty Images Jimmy Kimmel is fighting back againstPresident Donald Trumpamid mass debate over thecancellationof his fellow late-night TV talk show host Stephen Colbert's program. Not long after the news was confirmed by Colbert, Kimmel took to social media and posted an image ofhimself and his familyattending a "Good Trouble" protest. (The anti-Trump Administration nationwideprotestswere held in honor of the late civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis.) Kimmel and his family could be seen holding placards that read "Make America Good Again" and "I wish we had a better President." But it was the comedian's caption that proved to be the most damning, as he made reference to thecurrent stormsurrounding the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. "Summer family vacation! #goodtrouble," Kimmel said, before adding: "May every day be another wonderful secret." The latter part of his caption seemingly referenced theWall StreetJournal'sJuly 17 article which claimed that Trump used that same language in a "bawdy" birthday card he wrote to Epstein in 2003. Trump is alleged to have written: "Happy Birthday—and may every day be another wonderful secret." Trump has denied he wrote the letter and has taken legalactionagainstWSJpublisher Dow Jones and NewsCorp's owner Rupert Murdoch. Hours after Kimmel's post, Trumpshared his own message via Truth Social, in which he celebrated the cancelation of Colbert's show. "I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings," Trump said. "I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!" He went on to take aim at Jimmy Fallon, the host ofThe Tonight Show, saying: "Greg Gutfeld is better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once greatTonight Show." Read More:Trump Administration Requests Release of Epstein Grand Jury Files. What Happens Next? Kimmel was among the late-night TV hosts to show his immediate support to Colbert following the news, writing via his Instagram stories: "Love you Stephen. F— you and all your Sheldons, CBS," seemingly referencing the network'sThe Big Bang Theorysitcom and its subsequent spinoffs. The canceling of theLate Show with Stephen Colbert, which is set to end in May 2026, came days after Colbert spoke out on his show about CBS' parent company, Paramount's, $16 millionsettlementwith Trump. In his segment,Colbert called the settlement a "big fat bribe," alleging that the company was looking for the Trump Administration to approve their merger with Skydance Media. CBS hassaid that the show's cancellationwas for "purely" financial reasons, but that hasn't stopped speculation. "CBS canceled Colbert's show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump—a deal that looks like bribery," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren viasocial media."America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons." (Warren called for an investigation into the settlementearlier this month.) Meanwhile, this is not Kimmel's first foray into the Epstein saga. In early 2024, football quarterback Aaron Rodgers made headlineswhen he falsely suggested thatKimmel's name would appear in court documents associated with Epstein. Kimmel threatened legal action against Rodgers at the time. "[F]or the record, I've not met, flown with, visited, or had any contact whatsoever with Epstein, nor will you find my name on any 'list' other than the clearly-phony nonsense that soft-brained wackos like yourself can't seem to distinguish from reality," Kimmelposted on Xon Jan 2, 2024 "Your reckless words put my family in danger. Keep it up and we will debate the facts further in court." Read More:The Jeffrey Epstein Scandal Is Snowballing and Trump Can't Seem to Stop It Kimmel has been extremely outspoken in his criticism of Trump over the years. "Isn't it past your jail time?" Kimmelasked when hosting the Oscarslast year, responding to a poor review by Trump of his monologue earlier that night. Kimmel has also been critical of Trump'shandling of gun violenceand immigration. WhenTrump sent the National Guard into Los Angelesin June to quell protests related to his mass deportation efforts, Kimmel called Trump"an arsonist with a hose."This came amid backlash over the President's decision to send in the National Guard without the request of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Contact usatletters@time.com.
