An Unlikely Defender: Jay Leno Speaks Out for Jimmy Kimmel After Suspension

Late night is weighing in.

Jay Leno is the latest former late-night TV host to speak out in the wake of ABC’s “indefinite suspension” of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” following Kimmel’s comments about the Sept. 10 fatal shooting of conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk.

“I think Jimmy will land on his feet, he’s a talented guy, he’s funny and let’s see what happens,” Leno, 75, told Access Hollywood, while attending the Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony for former Fox News anchor Chris Wallace on Thursday.

Leno, who used to have a feud with Kimmel, added, “He may be back on in just a couple of weeks again, so we’ll see.”

“It’s a comedian talking, if you don’t like it, don’t watch it, I mean … let the people decide. If the people like his show, it stays on the air, I mean, it’s as simple as that,” the former “Tonight Show” host added.

Leno noted that he “likes” Kimmel and “all those guys” and thinks they are “really talented,” seemingly referring to Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers.

“I’m for free speech, you know Patrick Henry said it best, ‘Give me speech or give me death,’ that was the first go around with this argument,” he told Access Hollywood. “It’s been going on for 200 years and in a free society, it’ll go on for another 200.”

On Monday, Kimmel spoke about Kirk during his monologue.

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” he said. “In between the finger-pointing, the White House flew the flag at half-staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the president was taking this.”

He later reportedly refused to apologize and it’s not clear when the show will return. On Thursday, he was spotted smirking as he arrived at his attorney’s office in LA.

Leno’s remarks come after he recently reflected on his former feud with Kimmel.

On “The Jay Leno Show” in 2010, Kimmel took jabs at Leno about the notorious “Tonight Show” debacle involving Conan O’Brien.

Leno asked Kimmel about the best prank he had ever pulled, and Kimmel replied by referencing Leno and O’Brien. “I told a guy that five years from now I’m going to give you my show, and then when the five years came, I gave it to him, and then I took it back almost instantly,” he said.

In April, Leno looked back on the incident during an appearance on “In Depth With Graham Bensinger.”

“When Kimmel came on my show and humiliated me on my own show, I let it happen. I didn’t edit it,” Leno said. “It was my mistake, I trusted somebody. I went, ‘Ah, I made a mistake. OK, I should pay the price.’ And it’s fine, it’s fine. I mean, we could have edited it out of the show.”

When asked why he didn’t edit it out, Leno noted, “Because it happened. It’s real — it happened. It’s my mistake. That’s how you learn.”

“It’s not good TV for me because it started a whole thing that continues to this day, really,” he continued. “But it’s OK, it’s all right. He’s a comic — you do what you gotta do. I mean, I wouldn’t have done it, but that’s okay. That’s all right. It is what it is.”

In 2017, Kimmel told the Hollywood Reporter, “Jay and I have made peace. After my son had his operation, he called me and he was very nice.”

Leno, who hosted NBC’s “The Tonight Show” from 1992 to 2009, is just the latest late-night host to comment.

“Well, guys, the big story is that Jimmy Kimmel was suspended by ABC after pressure from the FCC, leaving everyone thinking, ‘WTF?’” Fallon said during NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon” on Thursday night.

“I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he is a decent, loving, funny guy. And I hope he comes back,” the former “Saturday Night Live” star, 51, added.

Jon Stewart also made a rare midweek appearance on “The Daily Show” to weigh in.

Stewart, 62, who typically only hosts the Comedy Central episodes that air on Monday nights, got introduced as the “patriotically obedient host” to the “all-new government-approved ‘Daily Show’” on Thursday.

“We have another fun, hilarious, administration-compliant show,” Stewart joked. “Coming to you tonight from a real s–thole, the crime-ridden cesspool that is New York City. It is a tremendous disaster, like no one has ever seen before. Someone’s National Guard should invade this place, am I right?”

Referring to Trump’s visit to the UK, he said, “If you felt a little off these past couple of days, it’s probably because our great father has not been home, for Father has been gracing England with his legendary warmth and radiance.”

On NBC’s “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” the host said, “Donald Trump is on his way back from a trip to the United Kingdom, where he was met with protest, while back here at home, his administration is pursuing a crackdown on free speech.”

Meyers, 51, added: “May I just say, it is a privilege and honor to call Jimmy Kimmel my friend, the same way it is a privilege and honor to do this show every night. I wake up every day and count my blessings that I at least live in a country that purports to value freedom of speech.”

As a sound bite played a fart sound behind his words, Meyers said, “We’re going to keep doing our show like we always do with enthusiasm and integrity.”

Meanwhile, David Letterman, 78, weighed in while speaking at the 2025 Atlantic Festival. He hosted “Late Night With David Letterman” from 1982 to 1993 on CBS.

“This is misery,” the former talk show host said. “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.”

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