Jimmy Kimmel responded to a verbal attack from President Donald Trump by bringing up his alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
It started with Trump lashing out at Kimmel on Truth Social, his right-wing social media site, by saying that Kimmel will be the next person to have his show canceled after news of The Late Show's cancellation, hosted by Stephen Colbert.
"The word is, and it's a strong word at that, Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes and, shortly thereafter, Fallon will be gone," Trump wrote. The president continued on, slamming Kimmel and Fallon for having "absolutely NO TALENT" and even blamed them for "destroying what used to be GREAT Television."
Kimmel didn’t stay silent for long. The late-night TV show host responded by alluding to a Wall Street Journal story reporting that a letter featuring Trump’s name was given to Epstein as part of a book that was made for his birthday in 2003. The story reported that the letter with Trump’s name featured the message: “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
"I'm hearing you're next. Or maybe it's just another wonderful secret," Kimmel wrote in his Instagram post.
For what it’s worth, Trump did deny that he was responsible for the message and sued the Journal. "I never wrote a picture in my life. I don't draw pictures of women," he said in an interview with the publication. "It's not my language. It's not my words."
On July 17, CBS announced that Colbert’s talk show would air its final season in May 2026. The network called the decision “purely financial” amid a “Challenging backdrop in late night.”
"We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable," the network wrote in a statement. "We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television."
Colbert had previously been a vocal critic of Trump and had called out CBS’ parent company, Paramount, for settling a lawsuit with him — leading many to believe that the cancellation was related to his jabs at the President.
Kimmel spoke out in support of Colbert after the news, writing on his Instagram story, "Love you Stephen. F*** you and all your Sheldons CBS.”