John Mulaney told Jimmy Kimmel Tuesday night that, if he had been “full fired” instead of “half fired” from his job hosting ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” then the comedian would have praised him as late night’s “kindest” and “coolest” guy rather than “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert.
“Our friend Stephen Colbert, he’s only got weeks to live,” Kimmel joked early in his conversation with Mulaney, clarifying, “By live, I mean on television.” The “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host went on to question Mulaney about a social media post he made following his last episode on “The Late Show.”
“I was looking at your Instagram, and I’m now realizing I look at your Instagram too much, but, well, I approached you about this, actually,” Kimmel said. He subsequently read Mulaney’s caption of the post in question, which read, “My last time at the Ed Sullivan Theater with the kindest, coolest man in late night.”
In response to his studio crowd’s round of applause for Mulaney’s praise of Colbert, Kimmel joked, “Can I just say right now to the audience? Applause was not the reaction I was looking for.” You can watch Mulaney’s full “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” interview in the video below.
Kimmel took issue with the effusive nature of Mulaney’s praise for Colbert, who is set to wrap up his stint hosting “The Late Show” on May 21, following CBS’ abrupt cancellation of the late night series last year.
“Now, ‘kindest,’ I could have definitely dealt with, for sure. Even ‘coolest’ on its own, I for sure could have done,” Kimmel told Mulaney. “Adding ‘kindest coolest in late night‘ really narrows it down! Really narrows it down to just a few guys.” The “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host additionally noted that he confronted Mulaney about the Instagram post not long after it was posted.
“With a text that said,’ I let you live in my house,’ which, during a wayward, addressless period of my life, I lived in your guest house for a while,” Mulaney remembered.
“I was just wondering: Was there a period of time where you lived in Stephen’s house for longer?” Kimmel playfully asked, to which Mulaney responded, “I have to say, the man’s never invited me over.”
The comedian then turned the lighthearted criticism around on Kimmel, telling him that all of TV’s late night hosts have put guests like Mulaney in a tough spot.
“What a position you’ve all put us in. You’re all getting suspended and fired constantly!” Mulaney jested. “We all have to talk so hyperbolically about all of you so often. We’re out of words! ‘Kindest, coolest,’ who gives a s—t? I mean, he’s off the air! You’ve got to say something nice.”
“If you had been full fired, not half fired, I would have said, ‘This is the kindest, coolest guy in late night, and I broke his bathtub once,’” Mulaney conceded, referencing Kimmel’s brief suspension last year.
