The motive for cancelling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is truly unknown by all but a handful of people. Is it because, as CBS claims, his show was losing more than $40 million a year? Or is it because, as millions believe, that Colbert trashed the network on air for settling a lawsuit brought by Donald Trump?
Or is it both?
Despite The Late Show having the highest ratings of network nighttime talk shows, CBS says there is an overall drop in revenue across the board, calling it “a challenging backdrop in late night.” And tried to dismiss all other possibilities. “It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount.”
CBS claims the overall ad market has shrunk by half since 2018 and that the content has a limited shelf life, which means it doesn’t hold up for long-term streaming. One report says producing the program costs “more than $100 million per season.” And another report says The Late Show began losing money three years ago.
But if the numbers are as bad as we are led to believe, why did it take the company so long to cancel a show that was hemorrhaging cash in the tens of millions of dollars? And why did the announcement come after Colbert criticized CBS’ parent company, Paramount, for settling a $16-million suit brought by Donald Trump? The suit alleged that CBS News’ 60 Minutes deceptively edited an interview with Kamala Harris.
Here’s what Stephen Colbert said in an opening monologue just before he was cancelled: “I believe this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles. It’s big, fat bribe.”
Because this all comes as Paramount’s owners are trying to get the Trump administration to approve the sale of the network to a new owner, Skydance.
Two days later, he was toast.
The timing prompted an outcry from fans and others who believe politics, not finances, is to blame. Trump haters jumped on the chance to believe the only reason Colbert was cancelled was so Paramount could curry favor with the president. The timing smells bad and raises red flags, but the financial argument holds some water, no matter what the actual numbers may be.
Trump weighed in, saying, “I absolutely love that Colbert was fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.”
When news broke last week that Colbert would be canceled in May of 2026, he stayed above the fray. He told his audience, “It’s not just the end of our show, it’s the end of The Late Show on CBS. I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away.” He praised CBS for being a good partner and for giving him the chair. The crowd booed the decision. Colbert said he wished someone else was getting the job so at least the show would continue. Love him or hate him, that was classy.
But by Monday night, the gloves were off. Colbert was back at it again, criticizing his parent company and taking a needlessly harsh and over-the-top potshot at Trump. “How dare you, sir?” he retorted. “Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism: ‘Go f— yourself.’”
But much of it was wrapped in satire. Colbert mocked the show’s financial explanation, saying that $40 million “is a big number…I could see us losing $24 million,” he added. “But where could Paramount possibly have spent the other $16 million … Oh wait.”
His friends and rivals, including Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Anderson Cooper and John Oliver, either filled the audience or appeared in cameos on the show. Jon Stewart, on his Comedy Central show the same night, questioned whether this was “the path of least resistance” for Paramount, also his parent company, to close an $8-billion takeover by ending a treasured franchise that “rankled a fragile and vengeful president.”
In recent days, claws have been bared from all corners of the world. Prominent liberals, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), said on social media, “Stephen Colbert is an extraordinary talent and most popular late-night host, slams the deal. Days later he is fired. Do I think this is a coincidence? NO.”
Charlamagne tha God, radio host of The Breakfast Club, pulled no punches, saying, “Canceling Colbert is an obvious move to appease Donald Trump…This is textbook authoritarian rule. This is intimidation tactics disguised as legitimate legal actions. Paramount and CBS should be ashamed of themselves.”
And Kimmel, the host of ABC’s late-night show, condemned the cancellation, writing on Instagram, “Love you, Stephen. F— you and all your Sheldons, CBS.”
I’ve struggled to find a Republican who supports Colbert. Most hate his politics. Why wouldn’t they? For nine years at the beginning of almost every show — which boosted him to No. 1 in the ratings — Colbert said a lot of crude things about the MAGA/Trump crowd. Yet, publicly, most agree that ending the show was a financial decision.
Stephen Colbert ushered in the era of hyper-partisan comedy by bashing Trump. The risk was always that he would alienate half his audience. You could argue that Colbert did it to himself.
No matter where the truth lies in exactly why Colbert was fired, it seems that if you are an anti-MAGA bold-faced name, you have a big, fat target on you. Watch your back, Stewart.
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Hyper-partisan comedy didn’t start with The Late Show. Comedy Central had shows years before that did the same thing. CBS hired Colbert knowing what it was getting and let the show roll while people started consuming comedy differently than tuning in late-night. Too many “coincidences” for the network on this one, and from a PR standpoint, that’s what leads the narrative.