David Letterman has been in contact with Jimmy Kimmel after show cancellation

David Letterman believes Jimmy Kimmel will be "fine" in the wake of his talk show being taken off air.

The veteran broadcaster revealed he had been in contact with the 57-year-old presenter since ABC announced on Wednesday (17.09.25) they were pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely over remarks he had made about the killing of Charlie Kirk, and is convinced he will be OK.

Speaking at The Atlantic Festival in New York, David said: “He’s up in bed, taking nourishment. He’s going to be fine."

The 78-year-old presenter blasted the "ridiculous" circumstances surrounding Jimmy's suspension.

He said: “This is misery. I feel bad about this.

“We see where this is all going, correct? It’s managed media. And it’s no good. It’s silly. It’s ridiculous. And you can’t go around firing somebody because you’re fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian criminal administration in the Oval Office. That’s just not how this works.

“In the world of somebody who is an authoritarian, maybe a dictatorship, sooner or later, everyone is going to be touched."

David warned his Kimmel's removal from his show “was predicted by our president right after Stephen Colbert got walked off, so you’re telling me this isn’t premeditated at some level?”

He added: “The institution of the president of the United States ought to be bigger than a guy doing a talk show."

Brendan Carr - the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - had warned that the agency, which regulates the broadcast industry in the US, could take action against ABC before they pulled Kimmel off air and said: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.

“These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

David joked of his comments: “Who is hiring these goons — [The Godfather author] Mario Puzo?

"Beating up on [past US presidents], rightly or wrongly, accurately or perhaps inaccurately, in the name of comedy, not once were we squeezed by anyone from any governmental agency, let alone the dreaded FCC."

David also addressed the recent cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which CBS insisted was "purely" a financial decision.

He said: “That was rude, that was inexcusable. The man deserves a great deal of credit… and to be manipulated like that because the Ellison family didn’t want to trouble Donald Trump with this move, so they got rid of him — not only got rid of him, got rid of the whole franchise. You’re not going to have to worry about anything, Larry, it’s all gone, it’s fine, goodnight.”