Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert have canceled their live “Strike Force Five” show in Las Vegas as a result of Kimmel’s COVID-19 diagnosis.
“Well, Las Vegas, I got COVID, and sadly, we need to cancel this weekend’s Strike Force Three show,” Kimmel tweeted Wednesday. “I could never live with myself if I got my hometown friends sick. Thanks to all who purchased tickets, everyone will get full refunds and we will try to reschedule if possible.”
The one-night only event was set to take place Sept. 23 at the Dolby Live at Park MGM, and would have been the first time the three late-night hosts were onstage together.
Just as the “Strike Force Five” podcast benefits out-of-work staffers from the hosts’ respective shows, all proceeds from the event would have gone to employees on the show impacted by the historic Hollywood double strike, which prompted late-night shows to go dark at the onset of the WGA strike in early May.
The podcast also includes late-night hosts John Oliver and Seth Meyers, who were’t slated to attend the live show. To explain their absence, Oliver said in a statement for the event, “I’m not allowed back in Vegas until I’m cleared of all charges,” while Meyers similarly joked, “I WILL be in Vegas but unable to attend as I gotta play my slots.”
The event also would have been one of Fallon’s first speaking opportunities after Rolling Stone published a report accusing the host of fostering a toxic workplace on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
The podcast, which was launched Aug. 30, lets fans listen in on the conversations the five hosts began having at the start of the writers’ strike as they break down the complex time Hollywood faces amid major labor disputes.
“Strike Force Five” is hosted on Spotify’s Megaphone, with Spotify serving as the exclusive sales partner for the podcast. The project also recieves support by Mint Mobile and Diageo (with brands like Aviation American Gin, Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, Casamigos and Ketel One Vodka) as co-presenting sponsors.
