Stephen Colbert Declares "Gloves Are Off" After CBS Made Mistake Of Keeping Him Alive After His Show Was Canceled
Stephen Colbert declared that the “gloves are off” and that CBS made the mistake of leaving him alive after the company announced it was canceling his show last week.
Last week, it was announced that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and the entire The Late Show franchise was getting shut down in May 2026. Paramount Global co-CEO and CBS CEO George Cheeks alongside CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach and CBS Studios President David Stapf made the announcement in a joint statement, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will end its historic run in May 2026 at the end of the broadcast season. 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 trio then claimed the decision was financial, “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.”
Colbert also announced the show’s cancelation saying, “I want to let you know something that I found out just last night. Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending The Late Show in May.”
The audience then booed with Colbert responding, “Yeah, I share your feelings. 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. And I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners. I’m so grateful to the Tiffany Network for giving me this chair and this beautiful theater to call home. And I’m grateful to you, the audience, who have joined us every night in here, out there, all around the world, Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea. I’m grateful to share the stage with this band, these artists over here every night. And I am extraordinarily, deeply grateful to the 200 people who work here.”
Following the announcement of the show’s cancelation an anonymous insider claimed the show had been losing $40 million a year. Reuters also reported that the “show’s ad revenue plummeted to $70.2 million last year from $121.1 million in 2018.” The show’s average audience also declined from a peak of 3.1 million viewers in the 2017-2018 to just 1.9 million for the most recent season ending in May.
In his opening monologue on Monday, Colbert addressed the show’s cancelation again saying, “You may have heard the news. Last week, we learned that The Late Show will be ending in May. … Over the weekend it sunk in that they’re killing off our show, but they made one mistake. They left me alive.”
“And now for the next 10 months the gloves are off. I can finally speak unvarnished truth to power and say what I really think about Donald Trump starting right now,” he added. “I don’t care for him. Doesn’t seem to have like the skill set. Doesn’t have the skill set to be President, you know. Just not a good fit, that’s all.”
Colbert then addressed CBS’s claim that the show was being canceled as part of a financial decision, “CBS, our network, CBS, who I want to reiterate have always been great partners, put out a statement saying very nice things about me and about the show. And thank you to them for that.”
“They clarified that the cancellation was ‘purely a financial decision.’ But how could it purely be a financial decision if The Late Show is #1 in ratings? It’s confusing. A lot of folks are asking that question, mainly my staff’s parents and spouses. Well, over the weekend, somebody at CBS followed up their gracious press release with a gracious anonymous leak saying, ‘They pulled the plug on our show because of losses pegged between $40 million and $50 million a year. $40 million is a big number. I could see us losing $24 million, but where would Paramount have possibly spent the other $16 million?”
Paramount paid President Donald Trump $16 million as part of a lawsuit settlement that Trump filed after its program 60 Minutes aired an edited interview with Kamala Harris in October. The President also noted he expects to receive $20 million more.
Nevertheless, Colbert then stated, “So, with those numbers, I got to say it makes sense we’d be cancelled. I get it guys. And thanks again. Thanks again to the network.”
What do you make of Colbert’s comments?
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Colbert: "Trump doesn't have the skillset to be president."
Translation: Trump doesn't take bribes or hand out kickbacks and wink when we order little children for "late night pizza."
Gloves off. Says the same old thing. Day of the Pillow for the late show can't come soon enough. He needs to check out Tim Pool's setup and make more money