He was once the king of late night. But not only did he lose his crown, he's also losing his show.
Stephen Colbert has been the face of "The Late Show" ever since his predecessor, David Letterman, stepped down in 2015. Colbert transformed CBS' long-running late-night show into #Resistance television, dedicating monologue after monologue to attacking President Donald Trump, elevating Democrats and boosting their agenda.
However, it was no laughing matter for liberals when CBS announced in July that it had canceled "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" and that it will officially be off the air in May 2026.
Colbert's far-left fans were undoubtedly upset that their beloved Trump foe was being pulled off the air, accusing Paramount of bending the knee to an authoritarian. Trump rubbed it in by celebrating the move, writing on Truth Social, "I absolutely love that Colbert got fired."
STEPHEN COLBERT HAD LEFT-WING JOURNALISTS, HOSTS ON ‘THE LATE SHOW’ MORE THAN 200 TIMES
It was the timing, however, that turned the cancellation into a controversy.
Colbert had recently criticized parent company Paramount Global for settling Trump's lawsuit against the company over CBS' handling of the "60 Minutes" interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the run-up to the 2024 election.
The ordeal came as a long-planned merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media, which needed approval from Trump’s FCC chair, was in its final stages. On a summer Thursday, CBS announced it would cancel "The Late Show," insisting it was a "financial decision" and had nothing to do with the looming ownership change.
"'THE LATE SHOW with STEPHEN COLBERT' will end its historic run in May 2026 at the end of the broadcast season," CBS 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."
CBS said it was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night," adding, "It is not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount."
Later that month, the FCC approved the merger, paving the way for the deal to become official.
Many critics, including top Democrats, accused the network of political motivation ahead of the Skydance merger. However, Colbert's show was reportedly losing CBS $40 million a year and had been running on a whopping $100 million budget per season.
The decision to cancel "The Late Show" sparked an industry-wide panic over the future of late-night television, given Colbert was generally the winner in his 11:30 p.m. ET time slot, although he trailed Fox News host Greg Gutfeld, whose show airs at 10 p.m. ET.
A column by The Washington Post’s Megan McArdle insisted that Colbert’s show was losing viewers and money due to people moving away from traditional TV — stating that’s the "primary" reason for the cancellation.
"That, and not Colbert’s politics, is the primary thing you should be thinking about when you ask why the show was canceled. The great unbundling of the old networks and cable packages meant that late-night shows were no longer a hot media property but an economic liability," McArdle wrote.
During his time as a lame duck late-night host, Colbert has continued to attack Trump on a regular basis.
"And now for the next 10 months, the gloves are off," Colbert said in July.
After Trump taunted him over the cancellation, Colbert quipped casually, "Go f--- yourself" on the show.
Colbert's show has been far more likely than his counterparts to have Democratic political guests and liberal media figures as top guests. While he landed superstar singer Taylor Swift last week, earlier this month he brought on MS NOW hosts Jen Psaki and Rachel Maddow as his lead guests in the same week.
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Fox News Digital’s Marc Tamasco contributed to this report.
