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Jed Rosenzweig15 minutes ago

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Stephen Colbert

Photo: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS

This is a developing story. More to come

CBS has announced that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will end in May 2026, bringing the show’s historic run—and the Late Show franchise itself—to a close.

“‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ will end its historic run in May 2026 at the end of the broadcast season,” the network said in a statement. “We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire ‘The Late Show’ franchise at that time. We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television.”

The statement was issued jointly by George Cheeks (Co-CEO of Paramount Global and President and CEO of CBS), Amy Reisenbach (President of CBS Entertainment), and David Stapf (President of CBS Studios).

CBS emphasized that the decision was not related to performance or content: “This 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.”

“Our admiration, affection, and respect for the talents of Stephen Colbert and his incredible team made this agonizing decision even more difficult,” the statement continued. “Stephen has taken CBS late night by storm with cutting-edge comedy, a must-watch monologue and interviews with leaders in entertainment, politics, news and newsmakers across all areas. The show has been #1 in late night for nine straight seasons; Stephen’s comedy resonates daily across digital and social media; and the broadcast is a staple of the nation’s zeitgeist.”

CBS concluded: “The accomplishments of ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ are memorable and significant in performance, quality and stature. With much gratitude, we look forward to honoring Stephen and celebrating the show over the next 10 months alongside its millions of fans and viewers.”

Colbert addressed the show’s cancellation himself while taping tonight’s show, which the show has just released:

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49110245)

Colbert is stupid

Colbert is a Jewish tool

Like everything US, where nothing is live, nothing is spontaneous, not news nor sports, the show is being poured over by sociopath and paranoid Jewish censors, before being emitted to mock the people(=‘goyim’ in Jewspeak)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49111269)

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/17/media/cbs-cancels-stephen-colbert

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49110272)

But when he transitioned to CBS he lost all his charm immediately. I even remember in the promo leading up to his show beginning how weird and off-putting it was. Some people were just meant to play a heel. When he was using his acerbic wit to mimic a William F Buckley type somehow it was very funny. But the second he changed his shtick to a babyface and started preaching to the choir it got terrible fast. He always came across as so smug and holier than thou.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49110311)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49110335)

makes me think he's really not very charming or creative at all, i think in a general sense he's capable of being just as funny as letterman but letterman had true ability as a host and figured out some stupid shit to do to keep things light. colbert truly offers nothing distinct as a host, he needs to be running shtick to be funny.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49110573)

The legit spend $2M+ per week to produce that show -- exclusive of Cobert's salary.

Starting a new show from scratch, they could produce something just as good for $2M per year.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49110319)

huh? what other performance is there besides financial?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49110325)

Reno Reno numba 1

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49110599)

that's pretty much all you needed to know about this fake hack.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49110621)

he changed his accent

all to chase approval

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49110638)

funny that he just ran with it though. i think he's just not great as himself regardless.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49110648)

Like half the time his guests are politicians. Who the fuck is watching this?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49110864)

yet the entire segment suffers horribly and has been decimated over the decades:

"For thirty years, from October 1, 1962, to May 22, 1992, Johnny Carson presided over American popular culture from the 11:30 P.M. throne of “The Tonight Show.” At its peak, the show was regularly watched by seventeen million people. (The current late-night ratings winner, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” averages about 2.5 million viewers.)"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49110893)

Steve Krakauer

@SteveKrak

"Sir Colbert is costing us millions and the ratings keep hemorrhaging. Should we consider moving on?"

"Let's see, who does he have on tonight?"

"Well, Senator Adam Schiff..."

"No, like the lead guest? You know the big actor or comedian?"

"It's just Schiff sir."

"Cancel it."

https://x.com/SteveKrak/status/1946001775393210842

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49110895)

Stacey Abrams

@staceyabrams

The news of Stephen Colbert’s late-night show cancellation is disheartening. I’ve been fortunate to appear on

@colbertlateshow

four different times. Each time, Stephen asked important questions and made sure to make us laugh.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49111794)

i mean, i have guests like Adam Schiff, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Stacey Abrams, and Elizabeth Warren. boffo box office stuff!"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49113004)

He’s making a stink about it too

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49111154)

https://x.com/SenWarren/status/1946003619821580369

CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that looks like bribery.

America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.

Watch and share his message.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49110986)

It really looks like purging a good share of this dead weight shitlib content is part of that.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49111205)

cbs and mtv had their heyday during the gen x era and those are the two biggest legacy networks paramount has.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49111302)

So, not really late to the game, but I think you're right otherwise.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49111372)

US is a dictatorship

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49111255)

he's solid, but to be fair, there is a lot more material to work with if you're willing to make fun of libs

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49112716)

for some reason, Michele Tafoya and Jim Norton are constantly on now. cannot stand to listen to either of them.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49125829)

https://archive.is/x5rXo

The Atlantic

Is Colbert’s Ouster Really Just a ‘Financial Decision’?

CBS no longer deserves the benefit of the doubt.

By David A. Graham

Stephen Colbert

Scott Kowalchyk / CBS / Getty

July 17, 2025, 11:05 PM ET

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Building an empire takes decades. Destroying it can take only a few years, and sometimes the vandals are in the palace, not outside the gates.

For much of the 20th century, American broadcast television revolved around three networks: NBC, ABC, and CBS. William S. Paley, CBS’s longtime CEO, made sure that his company—the Columbia Broadcasting Service—was a leader among them. The network was home to Edward R. Murrow, who brought World War II in Europe home to Americans on CBS Radio; after the war, Murrow’s reporting played a pivotal role in bringing down Senator Joseph McCarthy. Walter Cronkite dominated American evenings from his perch at the Evening News. And from the days of Mike Wallace to the more recent era of Lesley Stahl and Scott Pelley, 60 Minutes set the standard for long-form television reporting.

Yet CBS’s current ownership seems determined to demolish this legacy. This evening, the network announced plans to end The Late Show With Stephen Colbert when the host’s contract ends next May. Late-night personalities come and go, but usually that happens when their ratings sag. Colbert, however, has consistently led competitors in his time slot. CBS said this was “purely a financial decision,” made as traditional linear television fades.

Perhaps this is true, but the network that once made Cronkite the most trusted man in America no longer gets the benefit of the doubt. CBS’s owners have made a series of decisions capitulating to President Donald Trump, and the surprise choice to allow Colbert—a consistent, prominent Trump critic—to walk seems like part of that pattern.

One reasonable starting date for the trouble would be 2016. That was both the year that Trump was first elected president and the year that Sumner Redstone, the cussed but aging owner of CBS’s parent company, Paramount, surrendered control to his daughter, Shari Redstone. In 2023, Shari Redstone began seeking a buyer for the company, eventually striking a deal, in 2024, with Skydance. The merger requires federal approval.

During the 2024 presidential campaign, 60 Minutes interviewed Kamala Harris, Trump’s Democratic opponent. Trump sued CBS, alleging that the network improperly edited her interview. As supposed evidence, he cited different excerpts of the interview that had aired on different CBS shows. (If CBS was seeking to hide anything, then airing the clips on its network wasn’t a very effective way to do it.) He demanded $20 billion, a sum that was preposterous especially because—as most First Amendment lawyers agreed—the suit had no merit.

But Trump had major leverage: He won the November presidential election, giving him a role in approving the proposed Skydance-Paramount merger. During his first term, he’d already demonstrated his willingness to use his approval power to punish political opponents in the media, unsuccessfully seeking to block the merger of AT&T and Time Warner.

Since the election, CBS has seemed eager to please Trump however it can, though the company continues to insist the merger has no bearing on its decisions. The network handed over transcripts of the 60 Minutes interview to Brendan Carr, the close Trump ally appointed to lead the Federal Communications Commission. In April, the 60 Minutes chief Bill Owens, a widely respected journalist, stepped down. “It’s clear the company is done with me,” he told staff during a meeting. In a memo, he elaborated: “Over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for ‘60 Minutes,’ right for the audience.” Some of the shows’ reporters, who are not prone to histrionic statements or partisanship, raised alarms in interviews and speeches.

Earlier this month, CBS agreed to a $16 million settlement to end Trump’s lawsuit. The agreement doesn’t pay Trump directly, but the network agreed to pay legal fees for him and a co-plaintiff, and to contribute to Trump’s future presidential library. Trump has stated that the deal also includes unspecified “advertising,” reportedly for public-service announcements that boost Trump-approved causes. Paramount denies this. Now comes Colbert’s departure. If the reasons are truly financial, one wonders how his salary compares to the money spent to settle a dubious lawsuit.

The president now seems favorably disposed toward the merger. Last month, he spoke highly of Skydance head David Ellison, who is the son of Oracle founder and Trump pal Larry Ellison. Still, the deal has not yet been approved by the FCC.

Paramount’s and Skydance’s executives have demonstrated that they aren’t interested in defending CBS’s journalism or its editorial independence, to the detriment of not only the network’s historical reputation but also the many excellent journalists still working there. Journalism, along with Colbert’s program, makes up only a small portion of Paramount’s portfolio, and so business executives might view sacrificing them to preserve a deal as a prudent, if cold-blooded, maneuver.

But the recent experience of another Columbia—Columbia University—offers a warning. When assailed by the Trump administration, the university’s administration struck a conciliatory stance, trying to make a deal with the president. The capitulation only encouraged Trump, who then sought a judicial decree for oversight of the school. (The two parties are still in talks.) What happened at Columbia is the same thing Trump has done to many other adversaries: If you give him an inch, he’ll take a yard, and immediately scheme to grab a mile, too. Institutions that are willing to sacrifice their values for the government’s favor are likely to end up with neither.

About the Author

David A. Graham

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David A. Graham is a staff writer at The Atlantic and an author of the Atlantic Daily newsletter.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49112512)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49112637)

no problem with outright election tampering by cbs, but fire a lib hero? wahhhh!!!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5751555&forum_id=2/#49112721)