“Ten years ago I was smart enough to cancel myself,” Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg speaks with former The Late Show host David Letterman about ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel. (Photo by BFA for The Atlantic: Carl Timpone + Aidan McLellan)
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In tonight’s edition, David Letterman didn’t hold back when he addressed the fallout of Disney’s deluded decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel from the air. Speaking at The Atlantic Festival, he lashed out at the decision and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. We have all the details below.
Also on this busy media Thursday, we had eyes and ears at Axios’ Media Trends event.
There, Shari Redstone defended the decision to cancel Colbert as well as settling with Donald Trump. Conde Nast CEO Roger Lynch addressed Anna Wintour's succession while Joe Kahn discussed Trump’s lawsuit against The Gray Lady.
Also tonight: Emily Sundberg announces a Feed Me podcast, and The Ankler enters into a partnership with Letterboxd.
Plus, it is Thursday, which means Journo Jobs is back. Tonight, we have gigs at: The Wall Street Journal, 60 Minutes, Bloomberg, The New Yorker, and Vox.
Mentioned tonight: Bob Iger, Mark Guiducci, Chloe Malle, David Ellison, Bari Weiss, Michael Grynbaum, Juli Weiner, Olivia Nuzzi, Oliver Darcy, Aidan McLaughlin, Hamish McKenzie; Jennifer Pastore, Lindsay Underwood, Ben Smith, Taylor Lorenz, Charles Forelle, Marie Beaudette, Jay Penske, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Daniel Lippman, and more.
When The Laughter Stops
“Remote Control” by New Yorker Cartoonist Barry Blitt will grace the magazine’s cover on 25th September 2025.
Since calling time on hosting duties with The Late Show in 2015, David Letterman has been a man of rare public appearances. The Atlantic got lucky that one such appearance was scheduled for their festival that kicked off Thursday, when Late Night hosts are back in the headlines.
Letterman was set to appear in a sit-down chat with British actor Richard Ayoade to discuss their approaches to comedy and writing at the Zuccotti Theater in lower Manhattan. But Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg is a newshound at heart, and used the appearance to ask Letterman about ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel. The comedian didn’t hold back.
“Well, this is misery. And in the world of somebody who’s an authoritarian, maybe a dictatorship, sooner or later, everyone is going to be touched,” he said.
“But this is me, for 30 years, I did this for a living. So I see this happen. They took care of Colbert – that was rude, that was inexcusable, the man deserves a great deal of credit, he’s in the Hall of Fame nine times, 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,” Letterman said.
“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. Good night.’”
Then, Letterman next had in his sights Disney CEO Bob Iger, supposedly one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, who on Wednesday folded like a cheap suit and pulled Kimmel from the air.
“And then my good friend Jimmy Kimmel,” Letterman began, “You know, I just, I feel bad about this because we all see where this is 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…
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