Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show," Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show" and Stephen Colbert on "The Late Show."

The late-night landscape is standing united with Jimmy Kimmel.

Kimmel's peers took to their respective shows Thursday night in defense of the comedian, after ABC "indefinitely" suspended his show over his comments on the killing of Charlie Kirk, which drew harsh criticism from the head of the Federal Communications Commission.

Many of the hosts issued warnings for what they fear the move means for the future of free speech and government overreach.

Stephen Colbert, at the start of his "The Late Show" monologue on Sept. 18, decryed the suspension as "blatant censorship."

"With an autocrat, you cannot give an inch," he said. "If ABC thinks this is going to satisfy the regime, they are woefully naive, and clearly, they've never read the children's book 'If You Give a Mouse a Kimmel.' And to Jimmy, just let me say, I stand with you and your staff 100%."

On "The Tonight Show," Jimmy Fallon was more passive in his defense. "To be honest with you all, I don't know what’s going on, and no one does," he said. "But I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he's a decent, funny and loving guy, and I hope he comes back."

Fallon then joked around about concerns that late-night comedy shows will be "censored." He vowed to continue covering President Donald Trump "just like I normally would," but then a voiceover in the studio began dubbing over his words with over-the-top praise for the president.

On "Late Night," Seth Meyers echoed concerns that the First Amendment was under threat following Kimmel's falling out with ABC, the FCC and Trump.

"May I just say, it is a privilege and an honor to call Jimmy Kimmel my friend in the same way it is an honor to do this show every night," he said. "I wake up every day and count my blessings that I live in a country that at least purports to value freedom of speech, and we're going to keep doing our show the way we've always done it with enthusiasm and integrity."

"This is a big moment in our democracy and we must all stand up for the principles of free expression," Meyers continued. Despite a sarcastic bit where he said he has always "admired and respected" Trump, the comedian assured fans that his show will not change its critical tone out of fear of retaliation.

Another defense came from retired late-night legend David Letterman. The former "Late Show" host expressed dismay over Kimmel's fate during an appearance at The Atlantic Festival on Sept. 18.

"In the world of somebody who is an authoritarian, maybe a dictatorship, sooner or later, everyone is going to be touched," Letterman said.

Sharing support for "my good friend" Kimmel, he continued, "I feel bad about this because we all see where this is going, correct? It's managed media. It's no good. It's silly. It's ridiculous. And you can't go around firing somebody because you're fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian, criminal administration in the Oval Office. That's just not how this works."

Jon Stewart took a different approach, opening "The Daily Show" with an "administration compliant" segment, sarcastically praising President Donald Trump, calling him "perfectly tinted," and pretending to shush the audience when they booed at Trump.

"Our great administration has laid out very clear rules on free speech. Now, some naysayers may argue that this administration's speech concerns are merely a cynical ploy. A thin gruel of a ruse. A smoke screen to obscure an unprecedented consolidation of power and unitarian intimidation and coldly antithetical to any experiment in a constitutional republic governance," he said. "Some people would say that. Not me, though. I think it's great."

Contributing: Taijuan Moorman

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Late night defends Jimmy Kimmel: What Fallon, Colbert, Jon Stewart are saying

Reporting by Anthony Robledo, Brendan Morrow and Pamela Avila, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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