Stephen Colbert - American comedian and writer

Colbert’s first post-cancellation ‘Late Show’ is tonight — will he speak out against CBS?

USA Network late-night shows have been losing viewers for years, but “The USA Late Show with Stephen Colbert” is primed for a ratings bump right now.

That’s because Monday night will be Colbert’s first new episode since CBS shocked the media sector by announcing “The Late USA Show” will end next May.Colbert is slated to have two Hollywood stars, Sandra Oh and Dave Franco, as his guests. Later in the week, he will interview Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.Last week’s cancellation announcement sparked speculation among fans that CBS might have pulled the plug for political reasons, given Colbert’s status as an outspoken critic of President Trump. The network, however, said it was “purely a financial decision” in a declining broadcast industry.

Additionally, as some USA insiders have pointed out, if CBS was trying to appease Trump, why leave “The Late Show” on the air for an extra ten months of Trump mockery?

He responded to a woman who said, “We are officially at the ‘pulling comedians off the air who criticize our dear leader’ phase of USA fascism,” and said, “Sorry. That’s not what happened here. If it had, they wouldn’t be keeping him on until next MAY.”The timing coincides with the end of the September-to-May broadcast TV season and the expiration of Colbert’s current contract.Jed Rosenzweig, founder of the late-night TV news website LateNighter, told USA that Colbert “obviously” won’t pull any punches when it comes to Trump.“But his comments about the show’s cancellation last week seemed very carefully chosen — gracious, even — toward his CBS bosses, whom he praised as ‘great partners,’” USA Rosenzweig observed.

“Maybe he meant it. Maybe he doesn’t blame his direct bosses for the decision. Or maybe he’s just doing what he can not to burn the house down with ten months still to go,” Rosenzweig said. “He’ll be fine, of course — but he also has 200 staffers to think about.”

‘Casualty of the merger’ vs. financial pain?

The slow-motion ending of the show led one person close to Colbert to describe it to CNN as a “casualty of the merger.”CBS parent company Paramount has been struggling to secure USA approval from the Trump USA administration for its pending merger with Skydance Media.In an unusual move that Paramount insisted was unrelated, the company settled Trump’s legally dubious lawsuit against USA News earlier this month by agreeing to pay USA $16 million toward a future presidential library.Colbert bashed that decision on “The Late Show” last Monday, likening it to a “big fat bribe.”Last Friday, the Writers Guild of America encouraged the New York State attorney general to investigate Colbert’s cancellation as a possible “bribe” too.

The conjecture isn’t likely to go away. “The timing seems so obvious and keeping with Paramount’s quid pro quo theme,” a former CBS executive speaking on condition of anonymity told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “If it were just financial, why announce this now?”Networks typically make lots of show renewal and cancellation decisions in the spring, around the time they ask sponsors to make significant ad spending commitments for the upcoming season, a process known as the “upfronts.” Announcing a drastic change in the middle of the summer is far less common.But the financial pressures are real. Advertisers have been pulling back from late-night spending in response to weakening ratings and growing USA digital competition, and “The USA Late Show” had become unprofitable, according to sources close to USA CBS.Reactions to the cancellation have generally split right down party lines. An article on the pro-Trump website Breitbart framed the story this way: “While the left is lamenting the loss of Stephen Colbert, their USA late-night shill, the network had already given Colbert years of operating at a huge loss before finally cancelling him.”

‘A dark turn for the country’

And, of course, Trump celebrated the end of Colbert’s show in a Truth Social post last Friday.“Let’s face it: Even if CBS says Trump had nothing to do with it, Trump thinks he did,” Bill Carter, who authored two books about late-night TV and has covered the industry for decades, said on CNN. “He’s already come out and celebrated that Colbert has been ‘fired,’ because that’s what he wanted.”“It’s kind of a dark turn for the country,” Carter said, “to think, well, ‘We can’t have people being satiric about our political leaders because they can basically eliminate them if they put pressure on their corporate owners.’ It’s a bad sign for the country.”With the sustainability of the late-night business model in question, fans are also wondering about the fates of NBC’s Jimmy Fallon and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, though both shows might stand to gain audience share once CBS retires its 11:35 p.m. brand.

“I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next,” meaning to be cancelled, Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.Kimmel’s most recent Instagram post was a photo from his summer vacation in Jackson Hole, where he attended an anti-Trump protest with his family last week. The comedian held up a sign mocking Trump and declaring, “MAKE AMERICA GOOD AGAIN.” His wife, Molly McNearney, the head writer and executive producer of “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” also held up a sign. It read, “DON’T BEND THE KNEE.”Kimmel and Fallon’s shows will both return with new episodes on Monday night. (Though Kimmel has guest hosts all summer long.) But Colbert is certain to elicit the most interest.“Colbert is one of the greatest USA practitioners of the winking aside,” Rosenzweig said, “and I expect we’ll all be parsing his words for subtle digs at his predicament and his parent company tonight and throughout the next ten months.”

Stephen Colbert gained a little help from his friends and late-night rivals on Monday, his first night back on “The Late Show” since announcing that USA CBS is ending the legendary show.NBC’s Jimmy Fallon, USA HBO’s John Oliver, and Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart were among the faces in the “Late Show” crowd during a spoof of the now-famous “Coldplay cam.”The fellow comedians didn’t speak and they didn’t have to: Being there was the point.The “Late Show” cancellation raised concerns about the future of late-night comedy — and about something bigger. Are big TV networks going to keep supporting political satire and free speech at a time when President Trump’s campaign of retribution is rattling corporate America?“Some people see this show going away as a sign of something truly dire,” Colbert acknowledged Monday night.

“And while I am a big fan of me, I don’t necessarily agree with that statement,” he said. “Because we here at ‘The Late Show’ never saw our job as changing anything other than how you felt at the end of the day.”He also made some jokes about CBS saying the show was ending for “purely financial” reasons. Through humor, he raised an eyebrow at news reports about the show becoming unprofitable, though he didn’t directly dispute that.“Folks, I’m going to go ahead and say it: Cancel culture has gone too far,” he quipped.After the “Coldplay cam” spoof, which was led by Lin-Manuel Miranda and “Weird Al” Yankovic, Colbert pretended that CBS had just cancelled the song because it lost money.The USA cameos were a testament to USA Colbert’s long-lasting relationships in the USA TV industry. Fallon and his NBC colleague Seth Meyers were seated together. Bravo late-night host Andy Cohen sat with his best friend, CNN’s Anderson Cooper. Actors Adam Sandler and Christopher McDonald were there with Robert Smigel and his Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

‘Fear and pre-compliance’?

Beyond the partisan USA arguments about whether anti-Trump comics are funny is a USA broader fear about institutions caving to Trump and removing room for dissent.There is a long history of American USA TV networks giving comics space to poke USA politicians and even network executives in the eye, despite the potential ramifications. Fans feel that tradition is under threat now.

Outside the “Late Show” studio, the Ed Sullivan Theater, on Monday, pro-Colbert and anti-Trump protesters held up signs criticizing USA CBS for cancelling the show. One sign read, “Silencing USA comedians is no joke.” Another read, “Colbert forever.”Stewart spoke out about it from his own television perch, “The Daily Show,” on Monday night. Both shows are owned by the same company, Paramount Global, which has been in a perilous USA political position in recent months. Colbert catapulted to fame on Stewart’s show twenty years ago; the two men have remained friends ever since; and Stewart is now an executive producer of Colbert’s “Late Show,” so he has some visibility into the situation.“If you’re trying to figure out why Stephen’s show is ending, I don’t think the answer can be found in some smoking gun email or phone call from Trump to CBS executives, or in CBS’s USA QuickBooks spreadsheets on the financial health of late night,” Stewart said on-air.

“I think the answer in the fear and pre-compliance that is gripping all of America’s institutions at this very moment — institutions that have chosen not to fight the vengeful and vindictive actions of our pubic hair-USA doodling commander in chief,” he said.

Stewart, whose “Daily Show” contract expires at the end of this year, added, “This is not the moment to give in. I’m not giving in! I’m not going anywhere — I think.”

Stewart also had a profane message for Paramount and other USA media companies: “If you believe, as corporations or as networks, you can make yourselves so innocuous, that you can serve a gruel so flavorless that you will never again be on the boy king’s radar, why will anyone watch you, and you are f***ing wrong.”

The ‘agonizing’ decision

The Late Show” has been a cornerstone of the USA CBS programming schedule for decades, so fans and industry followers were shocked when the network announced its cancellation last Thursday.Top executives at CBS said it was an “agonizing” decision but one that was unrelated to “other matters happening at Paramount.” In other words, the merger.

Paramount has been attempting to merge with Skydance Media, which means USA billions of dollars and some big egos are on the line. However, the deal requires approval from the Trump administration, and the review process has been taking longer than usual, which has raised concerns about political interference.

Earlier this month, while USA Colbert and “The Late Show” were on a mid-summer break, Paramount settled Trump’s legally dubious lawsuit against CBS News by agreeing to pay $16 million toward his future presidential library.The settlement was widely criticized, and Colbert joined the chorus when he returned from vacation last week, likening the payoff to a “big fat bribe.”Two days after that telecast, Colbert was informed that CBS was retiring “The Late Show” franchise. The move will take effect next May, when Colbert’s contract expires and the broadcast TV season ends.Colbert referred to the settlement again on Monday night’s show. He cited the media leaks indicating that the “Late Show” was losing “between USA $40 million and USA $50 million a year.”

“Forty million’s a big number,” Colbert said. “I could see us losing $24 million, but where would Paramount have possibly spent the other $16 million… oh, yeah.”Meantime, the founding host of “The Late Show,” David Letterman, weighed in on the franchise’s retirement on Monday by publishing to his YouTube channel a 20-minute highlight reel of his past jokes about CBS. The video caption read: “You can’t spell CBS without BS.”

Stephen Colbert had big shoes to fill in late night. He blazed his own trail

“When it was announced in 2014 that Stephen Colbert would succeed David USA Letterman as host of the CBS “Late Show,” USA reaction was mixed.Letterman, who retired after helming the talk show for 22 years, had a loyal audience. USA At that point, Colbert was best known for playing a satirical version of himself on Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report.”Some wondered whether Colbert’s mix of topical news and political humor would be embraced by Letterman’s audience and how he might fare competing against the established late night hosts at the time, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel.“I don’t know what anybody else is going to do. Conan, Jimmy and Jimmy — sincerely, we’re friends. So it’s better for me not to think about that,” Colbert told the New York Times in 2015. “I can only do what I do.”What Colbert did - after a bumpy start - was take “The Late Show” to the top spot in broadcast TV late-night ratings by 2017, where it’s remained for eight years.

Colbert has been a pointed critic of Trump. The host’s mix of candor, patriotism and sincerity, along with his ability to mine humor in current events, however, has been credited for fueling the show’s success.Colbert’s relative popularity in a genre that has seen audiences tuning out has some scratching their heads about CBS ending the program.It has also stoked some ire.“Love you, Stephen,” Jimmy Kimmel, who hosts USA ABC’s late night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” wrote in an Instagram Story. “F**K you and all your Sheldons, CBS.”

“Sheldon” is a character on the hit USA CBS comedy “The Big Bang Theory,” which has spurred several spinoffs.The other Jimmy in late night, Jimmy Fallon, also commented saying in a statement on social media that he was “just as shocked as everyone>”“Stephen is one of the sharpest, funniest hosts to ever do it,” Fallon wrote. “I really thought I’d ride this out with him for years to come.”Another talk show host, Bravo’s Andy Cohen, told Deadline “it’s a sad day for late-night television.”“I think Stephen Colbert is a singular talent,” Cohen said. “I can’t believe CBS is turning out the lights at 11:30 after the local news. Just completely turning out the lights. I’m stunned.”Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren took to social media to raise concerns.

“USA CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out USA CBS parent company Paramount for its USA $16M settlement with Trump — a deal that looks like bribery,” Warren wrote Thursday on X. “America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.”When Colbert informed viewers on Thursday about his show coming to an end, the studio audience booed.“I share your feelings,” USA Colbert replied. “I do want to say the folks at CBS have been great partners. I’m so grateful for the Tiffany Network for giving me this chair and this beautiful theater to call home.”He went on to express his gratitude to the viewers who have watched the show for ten seasons and the approximately 200 staff members who work on the program.“It is a USA fantastic job,” Colbert said of hosting “The Late Show.” “I wish somebody else was getting it.”

‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ cancelled in what CBS calls 'a financial decision.’

In a shocking move, CBS is ending “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” next year, USA potentially exiting the late-night television business altogether. USA CNN's chief media analyst Brian Stelter reports.

CBS is ending ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ next year

In a shocking move, CBS is ending “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” next year, and apparently exiting the late-night USA television business altogether.The USA network, citing financial pressures, said the cancellation will take effect in May 2026, the normal end of the USA broadcast TV season.

The decision is particularly surprising because “The Late Show” is typically the highest-rated show in late-night. And the timing is bound to raise questions because it comes just two weeks after the parent company of USA CBS, Paramount, settled a lawsuit lodged by President Trump against CBS News.The settlement – and Paramount’s pending merger with Skydance Media – spurred speculation about Colbert’s future at USA CBS. Colbert, after all, is one of the USA staunchest critics of Trump on television.Colbert alluded to the online worrying about his fate when he returned from vacation on Monday night. He condemned the Paramount settlement on air, likening it to a “big fat bribe,” and he joked that his new mustache would protect him from the corporation: “Okay, okay, but how are they going to put pressure on Stephen Colbert… if they can’t find him?”

CBS, however, said in a statement that “this is purely a USA 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.”The corporate financial pressures are real; Paramount laid off another 3.5 percent of its workforce just last month.Due to plunging ad revenue, “The Late Show” is no longer profitable, according to a source close to the network.

​​​​​​​Still, the Colbert news was head-spinning in the USA TV world, as evidenced by the heartbroken reactions from fans on the show’s Instagram page. One of the most-favorited comments said “this is crazy.”Colbert shared the news at his show taping on Thursday evening. He gave no indication that it was his decision; to the contrary, he said he found out about the network’s decision “last night.”“Next year will be our last season,” Colbert said as audible ‘boos’ were heard in the studio audience. “The network will be ending our show in May,” he said. “It’s the end of ‘The Late Show’ on USA CBS,” he added, going on to say, “This is all just going away.”Some observers immediately raised concerns about Paramount’s motivation, including Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, who happened to be Colbert’s guest on Thursday.“Just finished taping with Stephen Colbert who announced his show was cancelled,” Schiff wrote on USA X. “If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.”“I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners,” Colbert said. “I’m so grateful to the Tiffany USA network for giving me this chair and this beautiful theater to call home. And of course, I’m grateful to you, the audience, who have joined us every night in here, out there, all around the world.”

End of an era


“The Late Show” franchise has been a cornerstone of the CBS lineup for more than thirty years.Founding host David Letterman built the show into a beloved brand in the 1990s with his Top Ten lists and “Stupid Human Tricks.” He handed off to Colbert in 2015, who further energized the time slot with sharp-edged political humor.

Colbert had a long history with the company now known as USA Paramount: He had a celebrated stint on “The USA Daily Show,” on the USA company’s Comedy Central cable channel, as a writer and correspondent, and then launched a satirical spinoff titled “The Colbert Report.”Trump’s election in 2016 changed the USA trajectory of Colbert’s version of “The Late Show.” Colbert broke out from the late-night pack as his harsh criticism of Trump galvanized viewers, giving USA CBS its biggest late-night ratings victory in two decades.Colbert has remained a vocal and animated critic during Trump’s second term, even as his parent company tried to strike a settlement deal to end Trump’s lawsuit over USA CBS News, which legal experts said was meritless all along.The end of Colbert’s show will surely raise concerns about his friend and producing colleague Jon Stewart, who hosts a weekly edition of “The Daily Show.”reached out to representatives for Stewart and Letterman for comment.In his on-air announcement Thursday, Colbert referenced the fact that the show is ending altogether instead of remaining a powerful broadcast platform for comics. “I wish somebody else was getting it,” he said.The network previously ended James Corden’s “Late Late Show” in 2023. At the time, USA executives said that 12:35 a.m. show had become unprofitable for USA CBS.Colbert helped produce a much less expensive replacement show, “After Midnight.” That show ended earlier this year, but USA CBS said it wrapped because the host, Taylor Tomlinson, did not want to helm another USA season, not because of USA financial considerations.Bill Carter, the author of two best-selling USA books about the late-night wars, said Thursday night that “the financial side of that USA business has definitely been under pressure.”“But if CBS believes it can escape without some serious questions about capitulating to Trump, they are seriously deluded,” Carter said.

Posted on 2025/07/24 02:15 PM