Stephen Colbert (The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report) has publicly endorsed fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel (Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Man Show, Crank Yankers) for an Emmy, despite the two competing in the same category. According to Variety, Colbert shared his support for Kimmel as voting for the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards draws to a close.
In a video posted to social media, Colbert encouraged Emmy voters to support Kimmel. Appearing outdoors with a tablet, Colbert joked about the voting process before telling viewers that he believes Kimmel deserves an Emmy. He then showed a photo of Kimmel to the camera and jokingly pointed out how “cute” the late-night host is.
Colbert’s endorsement comes after Kimmel supported him during last year’s Emmy race. Following CBS’ announcement that it would cancel The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Kimmel put up a billboard in West Hollywood featuring himself alongside the message, “I’m voting for Stephen.” Colbert ultimately won the award for outstanding talk series.
This year, Colbert and Kimmel are competing under a newly revised category. The Television Academy combined the former talk and scripted variety categories to create outstanding variety series. The nominees include Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver and Saturday Night Live.
Kimmel has also launched his own Emmy campaign for Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Rather than focusing on celebrity interviews or monologues from the show, his campaign video largely features clips of President Donald Trump (The Apprentice, Two Weeks Notice) criticizing Kimmel and his late-night series.
The nomination marks one of the final awards opportunities for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, which ended in May after an 11-year run on CBS. The show’s final season received nine Emmy nominations, including outstanding variety series and outstanding writing for a variety series.
Colbert also recently made a virtual appearance at the Television Critics Association Awards, where he accepted the award for outstanding achievement in variety, talk or sketch.
The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards will take place on September 14.