Newsom To Appear On Colbert Show Amid Kimmel Suspension Controversy

Golden State Gov. Gavin Newsom will appear as a guest on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" on Tuesday night, according to CBS Entertainment.

The billing comes on the heels of the announcement that the Walt Disney Company will return "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" to the air after it was "indefinitely suspended" over comments Kimmel made about the man accused of fatally shooting political commentator Charlie Kirk earlier this month. Critics called the suspension politically motivated censorship and likened it to the cancellation of the "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert," which was announced shortly after Colbert joked that his network had bribed President Donald Trump.

Colbert and Kimmel voiced support for one another as the president openly threatened networks for allowing late night comedians to criticize him. While Colbert's show will end in May, Kimmel's will return Tuesday night, Disney announced on Monday.

"Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country," according to a Disney statement issued Monday. "It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday."

In the opening monologue of last Monday night's show, Kimmel discussed the reaction to the assassination of Kirk.

"We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it," he said.

Subsequently, Kimmel's show was suspended by the network after receiving a warning from the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr.

• READ MORE: Jimmy Kimmel Firestorm: 6 Things To Know About The Controversy

Colbert, whose show is scheduled to be cancelled next May, said Disney's suspension was "blatant censorship" and "blatant assault on freedom of speech."

Newsom, for his part, has also been vocal about Kimmel's cancellation.

• READ MORE: CBS Cancels ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ Days After He Joked About 'Big Fat Bribe' To Trump

Buying and controlling media platforms.

Firing commentators.

Canceling shows.

These aren’t coincidences.

It’s coordinated. And it’s dangerous.

The @GOP does not believe in free speech.

They are censoring you in real time.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 17, 2025

"There is no such thing as free speech under Donald Trump’s reign," Newsom wrote on X last week.

Recently, President Donald Trump took aim at Colbert.

"Everybody is saying that I was solely responsible for the firing of Stephen Colbert from CBS, Late Night," he wrote on Truth Social. "That is not true! The reason he was fired was a pure lack of TALENT..."

On Monday, Colbert called the return of his ABC rival "wonderful."

Newsom and Priscilla Presley will appear on the show on Tuesday at 12:37 a.m. Pacific time.