In a surprise move, CBS is cancelling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Not just the renowned comedian’s version of The Late Show, but the over three-decade late night talk show in its entirety.
The cancellation was announced by Colbert himself during the taping of Thursday’s show, to a live audience that booed it.
“Yeah, I share your feelings,” Colbert said, “It’s not just the end of our show, but it’s the end of The Late Show on CBS. I’m not being replaced. This is all going away.”
CBS, in a statement, has said it was a financial decision to end the show, and “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”
But there’s no elaboration past that, and it’s impossible to not look at Colbert’s criticism, just two days ago, of CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global. In a segment, the comedian criticized the company for paying $16 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump, during the presidential election. Trump’s suit claimed that the network interfered with the 2024 election by heavily editing a 60 minutes interview with the Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris.
It’s also important to note that Paramount Global is currently in the midst of seeking approval from the Federal Communications Commission, for a massive $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media.
It’s fair to say the whole thing looks a little suspect despite CBS’s supposed reasoning, and that’s been pointed out by droves of people across the internet — as well as a fair few government official. Senator Elizabeth from Massachusetts posted on X, saying “America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.”
The Late Show first debuted in 1993 with host David Letterman, who’d continue to head the show until 2015 — which is when Colbert took over. Since then, Colbert’s Late Show has consistently been one of the top-rated late night talk shows on broadcast television. Even this year specifically, Colbert is the number one top-rated late-night show, with roughly 2.417 million viewers across 41 new episodes.
