Posted 1 hour agoSubscribe to Screen Time NewsletterCaret DownStephen Colbert Shared What Happened When He Actually Found Out His Show Was Canceled, And Damn, It's Rough"The audience thought it was a bit."by Mychal ThompsonBuzzFeed StaffFacebookPinterestLinkHot TopicðŸ"¥ Full coverage and conversation on Politics Stephen Colbert shared the behind-the-scenes moment he found out his show was canceled, and "wow," it's heartbreaking. CBS Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images The Late Show host was a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday, and gave his fellow late-night comedian a play-by-play when he shared the bad news with his staff and audience. ABC To set the scene of the shocking news, Colbert told Jimmy Kimmel that The Late Show was actually nominated for an Emmy (which they won), only one day before he found out about the cancellation. ABC Stephen said it was his manager, James "Baby Doll" Dixon, who manages Jon Stewart, Kimmel, and Colbert, who requested a 15-minute, in-person meeting after his July 16 show. Kidding that a 5-minute phone call with Baby Doll could last an hour, the 15-minute, in-person meeting didn't sound good at all. Jeff Neira / Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images BuzzFeed TrendingHot TopicLet's chat about all things PoliticsSee our Politics Discussions "15 minutes in person? What the hell is this about?" Stephen recalled. He said that when he went home, two and a half hours later, his wife, Evelyn McGee-Colbert, jokingly asked if the show had been canceled. The answer was, "Yes." ABC His manager actually knew several days before, but didn't tell him because Stephen was on vacation in Europe with his family at the time. When Colbert received the news, he didn't feel up to breaking the bad news to his staff. ABC His wife urged him to tell everyone the next day and joined him in solidarity at work to ensure it happened. "I said, 'I really don't think so. I just don't think I'm up for it,'" he remembered. "And then she goes, 'I'm coming to work with you tomorrow. Because I think you're telling your staff tomorrow.' And we get into the building, I go up in the elevator, I walk through the offices. By the time I get to my offices, I have sweat through my shirt." Michael Buckner / Variety via Getty Images Not wanting his staff to be denied access to information about the show he had, he first told his executive producer, Tom Purcell, before the taping. He claimed he didn't want everyone "bummed out" before the show. ABC Colbert explained that he did the entire show and even said goodnight to the audience before telling everyone not to leave. "I said, 'OK, now nobody leaves because we've got one more act of the show. Because I wanted to go record at the top of the show that we had been canceled, and my stage manager goes, 'Oh no, we're done. Steve, we're done.'" CBS Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images Colbert went backstage, informed his staff via a Zoom call, and then addressed the audience, which sounded like my worst nightmare, considering he kept messing up on the sentence that explained what was happening. ABC The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is scheduled to end in May 2026. CBS stated on July 18, announcing that the decision was "purely" financial and was not "related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount." Kimmel, who expressed his support for Colbert, shared that he was actually at a "No Kings" protest when he learned the news about his peer's cancellation. ABC Then, Kimmel switched gears to talk about his show's suspension, explaining he hit up the group chat with all the late-night hosts, including Colbert, Stewart, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver. ABC Closing out their conversation, Colbert even shared a clip of when he learned the news about Kimmel's show while he was in the middle of hosting his own late-night show. ABC In response to the YouTube video, viewers in the comments shared the same sentiment, pointing out something particular about the late-night hosts. "I love the idea that Stephen, Seth, the two Jimmys and the two Johns are in a group chat together," one person said. Another person said, "There's something so wholesome about these should-be rivals being such good friends and supportive of each other." "These are the real men standing up for our democracy right now," someone wrote, and another added, "I love seeing this solidarity among late show hosts!" And lastly, someone wrote, "This is camaraderie at its best. Love Jimmy. Love Colbert. Free speech and late night shows forever! 🥰." You can watch the full video below: View this video on YouTube ABC / Via youtube.com Kimmel was also a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on the same day. What are your thoughts on Kimmel and Colbert's conversation? And what do you think this moment in time could mean for late-night shows and comedians?