Overview

• On Thursday's Late Show, Colbert introduced an “ombudsman” by reanimating his Colbert Report character to weigh in on ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel.
• The segment portrayed a free‑speech crisis and urged talk hosts, satirically, to self‑censor or report colleagues.
• He targeted pressure linked to President Trump and joked about oversight from FCC commissioner Brendan Carr.
• Earlier in the broadcast, Colbert labeled Kimmel’s punishment “blatant censorship.”
• The Late Show has periodically revived the persona since 2016, including a prior “Word/Werd” return in January 2023.