Stephen Colbert has publicly endorsed Jimmy Kimmel in the Emmy race for outstanding variety series, despite his own show, "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert," being nominated in the same category. In a video posted on social media, Colbert urged voters to back Kimmel with just 24 hours left before voting closed, joking that people should support him "even if you've never seen his show" partly because "look how cute he is." The gesture returns a favour from last year, when Kimmel campaigned publicly for Colbert, including a West Hollywood billboard, after CBS announced it was cancelling "The Late Show" — a race Colbert went on to win.

This year the category has been restructured, with the Television Academy merging the former talk and scripted variety categories into a single outstanding variety series race featuring "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 mounted his own unusual campaign, built around clips of President Donald Trump criticising him and his show. Colbert's nod comes after "The Late Show" ended in May following an 11-year run, with its final season securing nine Emmy nominations; the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards take place on 14 September.