CBS announced on Thursday it is canceling “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”, officially ending a decades-long era of late night talk shows on the network.
CBS said “Late Show” was canceled for financial reasons but the timing of the announcement comes three days after Colbert criticized the settlement between President Donald Trump and Paramount Global, parent company of CBS, over a “60 Minutes” story last year.
Speaking to the audience at the Ed Sullivan Theater, Colbert said next May would be the final show for “The Late Show”.
“Next year will be our last season,” he said. “It’s the end of ‘The Late Show’ on CBS. I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away.”
The audience responded with boos.
“Yeah, I share your feelings,” the 61-year-old said.
CBS said statement that said the cancellation “is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”
However, in Monday’s monologue, Colbert said he was “offended” by the $16 million settlement reached by Paramount, whose sale to Skydance Media needs the Trump administration’s approval.
“I don’t know if anything — anything — will repair my trust in this company,” Colbert said. “But, just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would help.”
Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday, saying he “loved” that Colbert’s show had been canceled before attacking the hosts for ABC and NBC.
“I hear (ABC’s) Jimmy Kimmel is next,” Trump wrote. “Has even less talent than Colbert. (Fox News Channel’s) Greg Gutfeld is better than all of them, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight show.”
Democratic U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff of California was a guest on Thursday night. Schiff said on X that “if Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.”
