Colbert has hosted the present since 2015, when he took over from David Letterman. Over the previous decade, his mix of political satire and heartfelt commentary helped cement The Late Show as certainly one of late-night’s most influential platforms. CBS and its dad or mum firm, Paramount, praised Colbert’s legacy in a joint assertion Thursday.

“We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire The Late Show franchise at that time,” the community stated, noting that the selection was “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,” it added.

The Late Show is barely the most recent of comedy information packages to shutter its doorways, as After Midnight, hosted by Taylor Tomlinson, additionally just lately introduced its cancellation so the humorist can give attention to her comedy profession.

Despite that assertion, the timing raised eyebrows

Just days earlier, Stephen Colbert had blasted CBS and Paramount for settling a lawsuit with Trump. The president accused the community of modifying a 2020 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. Although CBS admitted no wrongdoing, the corporate agreed to pay Trump $16 million and to launch unedited transcripts of future presidential interviews.

Colbert didn’t maintain again. During Wednesday’s monologue, he mocked the settlement as a “big, fat bribe” and accused the community of giving in unnecessarily. He quipped that Paramount, recognized for producing Transformers: Rise of the Beast, clearly understands one thing being “completely without merit.”

Still, Colbert himself responded to the announcement with grace and humor. “Next year will be our last season,” he advised the viewers. “It’s not just the end of our show, but the end of The Late Show on CBS. This is all just going away.”

Fans and commentators flooded social media with outrage, many questioning the “coincidental” timing of the announcement. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Cal.), who appeared on Colbert’s present Thursday, tweeted, “If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) stated, “Stephen Colbert’s show was canceled three days after he called out Paramount, CBS’s parent company, for folding to Trump with a $16M settlement for a lawsuit that even they called ‘without merit.’ People deserve to know if this is a politically motivated attack on free speech.”

One consumer on X wrote, “First After Midnight, now this? Paramount is burning bridges with every comedy fan they have left.” 

“This makes perfect sense since Colbert is the *checks notes* … Top-rated late-night show?!?” @hunterw.bsky.social‬ wrote.

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