<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIt was about 3:00. We tape our show at 4:30. I\u2019m in my office, typing away as I usually do. I get a phone call, it\u2019s ABC. They say they want to talk to me. This is unusual,\u201d he recounted of the afternoon (September 17). \u201cAs far as I knew, they didn\u2019t even know I was doing a show previous to this, so I have like five people who work in my office with me, so the only private place to go is the bathroom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I go into the bathroom. And I\u2019m on the phone with the ABC executives and they say, \u2018Listen, we wanna take the temperature down. We\u2019re concerned about what you\u2019re gonna say tonight and we decided that the best route is to take the show off the air tonight,\u201d Jimmy<\/strong> continued, as the audience booed. <\/p>\n\u201cThat\u2019s what I said. I started booing,\u201d he went on. \u201cI said I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a good idea, and they said, \u2018Well, we think it\u2019s a good idea.\u2019 And then there was a vote and I lost the vote. So I put my pants back on and I walked out to my office and I called in some of the executive producers, and there were about nine people in there, and I said, \u2018They\u2019re pulling the show off the air.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
After leaving that meeting, Jimmy<\/strong> shared his wife told him he looked whiter than Jim Gaffigan, because he \u201cthought that it\u2019s over. I was like, I\u2019m never coming back on the air.\u201d<\/p>\nJimmy <\/strong>added that the show being pulled so late in the day made things a bit more complicated as the audience was already in their seats as the show was about to start filming. <\/p>\nOne of the schedule guests that night, chef Christian Petroni<\/strong>, had also already started cooking what he was presenting on the episode, and musician Howard Jones<\/strong> was also set to perform. <\/p>\nJimmy<\/strong> shared that they taped Howard<\/strong>\u2018s performance anyway, despite the audience being sent home. <\/p>\n\u201cThe song he did do because we decided to tape it anyway, even though we sent the audience home, in front of our disappointed employees, was \u2018Things Can Only Get Better.\u2019 Which you could take two ways, right?\u201d he joked. <\/p>\n
He also recalled staying at the studio for a few more hours before going home, but when it came time to leave, his normal drive home was met by lots of paparazzi. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m followed by 20 paparazzi cars, TMZ<\/em> people jumping in front of me on the way home. We\u2019re just trying to get to the house and we\u2019re like, \u2018Should we be going to our house?\u2019 There are two helicopters following us home,\u201d he recalled, joking, \u201cI hadn\u2019t had makeup on yet, so my bald spot was not painted in. This is something I did not want America to see.\u201d<\/p>\nJimmy<\/strong> shared that his family was \u201cshaken\u201d by it all, and even shared what it was like in the days following the news. <\/p>\n\u201cIt was like a DUI in L.A., three days in jail where I couldn\u2019t say anything. I just had to sit quiet and make a lot of phone calls and take a lot of phone calls,\u201d he said. \u201cYou [Colbert<\/strong>] were very kind to call me. \u2026 I did hear from literally everyone I have ever met.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n