Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert have a lot to talk about.

The two comedians, who have each dealt with their own behind-the-scenes late-night show drama in recent months, sat down on each other’s shows on Tuesday, Sept. 30, to swap stories and share a toast.

While appearing as a guest on Colbert’s “The Late Show,” Kimmel detailed how he learned he was being pulled off the air on Sept. 17, when ABC suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” over comments he made about Charlie Kirk’s killing. Kimmel said he received a call from the network about 90 minutes before he was set to tape his show that day.

“This is unusual. As far as I knew, they didn’t even know I was doing a show previous to this,” he joked.

“I have like five people who work in my office with me, so the only private place to go is the bathroom,” he continued. “So I go into the bathroom, and I’m on the phone with the ABC executives, and they say, ‘Listen, we want to take the temperature down, we’re concerned about what you’re going to say tonight, and we decided that the best route is to take the show off the air tonight.'”

Jimmy Kimmel opens up about ‘strange’ suspension: ‘An emotional roller coaster’

Kimmel said he objected and told ABC this wasn’t a “good idea,” but “there was a vote,” and “I lost the vote.” His immediate reaction was that this meant his show was done for good.

“I thought, ‘That’s it. It’s over. It is over,'” he said. “I was like, ‘I’m never coming back on the air.’ That’s really what I thought.'”

Kimmel learned the news so close to his taping that audience members were already in their seats and had to be sent home. Musician Howard Jones was also already there, so they went ahead and taped him performing “in front of our disappointed employees.” Ironically, Jones performed the song “Things Can Only Get Better.” When Kimmel left the studio a few hours later, he recalled being followed by paparazzi and two helicopters. By the time he got home, he was “shaken.”

Kimmel joked that the next few days, during which he remained silent amid outcry over his suspension, was like spending “three days in jail” for a DUI. “I couldn’t say anything,” he said. “I just had to sit quiet and make a lot of phone calls, and take a lot of phone calls.”

Kimmel was suspended after Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, pressured ABC to take action in response to the comedian saying President Donald Trump’s supporters were “trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.” Prior to the suspension, Nexstar Media Group had announced it would not carry “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on its local ABC affiliates.

After a few days, ABC brought “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” back on air on Sept. 23. When he returned, Kimmel decried Carr’s comments as a violation of the First Amendment. Trump had celebrated Kimmel’s initial suspension, and he criticized the comedian’s subsequent return.

On “The Late Show,” Kimmel described the “strange” situation as an “emotional roller coaster” and noted that his staff was “really scared and very bummed” during the suspension. He also slammed Trump for celebrating the show being taken off the air. “I never imagined that we’d ever have a president like this, and I hope we don’t ever have another president like this again,” he said.

“I never even imagined there would ever be a situation in which the president of our country was celebrating hundreds of Americans losing their jobs, somebody who took pleasure in that,” Kimmel added. “That, to me, is the absolute opposite of what a leader of this country is supposed to be.”

At the end of their “Late Show” interview, the two comedians shared a drink, with Colbert raising a glass to “good friends, great jobs, and late-night TV.”

Stephen Colbert reveals how he learned his show was canceled

On the same night that Kimmel was a guest on Colbert’s CBS show, Colbert was a guest on Kimmel’s ABC show, which was taping in Brooklyn, New York, for its annual pilgrimage from the West Coast. While on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” Colbert revealed how he learned that CBS had canceled “The Late Show” in July. The show is set to end in May 2026.

Colbert said he learned the news from his manager, who told him they needed to talk for 15 minutes after his show. Colbert told his wife he planned to have this quick chat but didn’t arrive home for two-and-a-half hours. “I walk into the apartment, and she goes, ‘What happened? Did you get canceled?'” Colbert remembered. “And I said, ‘Yes I did.'”

Initially, Colbert considered not telling his staff until September, but his wife convinced him he had to inform them immediately. He arrived at the office the next day with “sweat through my shirt,” preparing to break the news, though he decided he wouldn’t do so until they had finished that night’s show.

After taping the episode, Colbert said he went off stage to tell his staff the show had been canceled. He then returned to the stage to tape an announcement sharing the news with the world, but he was so nervous that he messed up and had to restart twice.

“The audience thought it was a bit,” he said. “They started going, ‘You can do it! Come on, Steve! You can do it!’ Because I always messed up on the sentence that told them what was happening. And then I got to the sentence that actually told them what was happening, and they didn’t laugh.”

Kimmel shared support for Colbert, saying he was “absolutely shocked” by the cancellation. “It’s not right,” he said. Kimmel again slammed CBS’ move while appearing on “The Late Show,” telling Colbert it’s “terrible what happened to your staff” and “such a shame.” Colbert, meanwhile, told Kimmel he’s “so happy that your show is back on the air.”