During the taping of The Late Show on Thursday, July 17, at New York’s Ed Sullivan Theater, far-left late-night television host Stephen Colbert acknowledged that CBS has made the decision to cancel The Late Show at the conclusion of this season, resulting in the complete discontinuation of the show and his departure from it.
As a point of context, CBS has indicated that this decision was based purely on financial considerations, and it seems that the motivation behind this financial choice may have stemmed from their significant courtroom defeat against President Donald Trump, which resulted in a loss of $16 million to President Trump through its parent company Paramount, which reached a settlement with the president. Colbert expressed his disapproval of Paramount for settling with President Trump.
In any event, while announcing the network’s decision to terminate his show, Colbert revealed that he had learned on Wednesday night that, after nearly a decade on air, The Late Show is being canceled and that “next year will be our last season.” Indeed, the show is being entirely canceled, and he will not be succeeded
The audience reacted with boos when he disclosed that the show was being canceled, and he conceded that he shared their sentiments. He remarked, “Yeah, I share your feelings.” He further elaborated on this point, stating that the show is permanently ending along with him, saying, “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 just going away.”
In response to the decision to cancel the show, CBS remarked, “We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire ‘THE LATE SHOW’ franchise at that time.” Furthermore, the joint statement from CBS executives acknowledged, “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.
In conclusion, they remarked that the cancellation of the show is attributed to necessary budget cuts, rather than any other issues. Nevertheless, it appears improbable that they would terminate a well-performing show for financial reasons, contradicting their justification regarding the “show’s performance.” Regardless, they stated, “This is solely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not connected in any way to the show’s performance, content, or other occurrences at Paramount.”
In a rather entertaining manner, Democrat lawmakers reacted strongly following the announcement. For instance, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) expressed, “I just finished taping with Stephen Colbert, who revealed that his show was canceled. If Paramount and CBS terminated the Late Show for political motives, the public has a right to know. They deserve better.”
In a similar vein, Sen. Liz Warren (D-CA) asserted in a tweet that Paramount had “bribed” President Trump by resolving a lawsuit with him, and criticized that Paramount should not have canceled the show for what appeared to be political reasons. She remarked, “CBS canceled Colbert’s show merely THREE DAYS after Colbert criticized CBS’s parent company, Paramount, for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that resembles bribery. America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.”
You can watch Colbert announce the cancellation of his show here:
