CBS has announced that The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will end in May, bringing a close to one of late-night television’s most iconic programs. The decision, which CBS says was made for financial reasons, comes amid controversy involving Colbert’s outspoken criticism of former President Donald Trump and CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global.
Colbert informed his audience at the Ed Sullivan Theater that the show would not be returning after next season. “After ten years, next year will be our last season,” he said. “It’s the end of The Late Show on CBS. I’m not being replaced — it’s all just going away.” The audience responded with disappointment, booing and groaning, to which the 61-year-old host replied, “Yeah, I share your feelings.”
While CBS executives praised the show as “a staple of the nation’s zeitgeist,” they emphasized that the cancellation was strictly a financial decision unrelated to the show’s ratings or content. Colbert’s show has led network late-night ratings and recently earned its sixth Emmy nomination.
However, questions about the timing of the announcement have fueled speculation. The cancellation came just three days after Colbert harshly criticized CBS’s parent company over a $16 million settlement with Trump. The settlement involved a lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, which Trump claimed was unfairly edited. Critics suggest the settlement was a strategic move to ease regulatory approval for Paramount’s sale to Skydance Media — a deal that requires sign-off from the Trump administration.
During Monday’s monologue, Colbert blasted the settlement, calling it a “big fat bribe.” He added, “I don’t know if anything will repair my trust in this company. But, just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would help.”
Trump celebrated the news of the cancellation on his Truth Social platform, mocking Colbert and his fellow late-night hosts while praising Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld. “I absolutely love that Colbert was fired,” Trump wrote, suggesting that ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel might be next.
Colbert has long been a vocal critic of Trump, building much of his Late Show presence around political satire. He took over the show in 2015 following a successful run on The Colbert Report, and quickly made politics a focal point of his programming. His first guest was Jeb Bush, and he used the opportunity to make jabs at Trump, then a rising force in the Republican primaries.
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff have raised concerns about the show’s abrupt cancellation, questioning whether political motivations may be at play. “If Paramount and CBS ended The Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know,” Schiff said on social media.
Colbert’s peers in late-night expressed shock and support. Jimmy Kimmel posted, “Love you Stephen,” with a swipe at CBS, while Jimmy Fallon called Colbert “one of the sharpest, funniest hosts to ever do it.” Actress Jamie Lee Curtis, scheduled to appear on the show soon, said efforts to silence critical voices “won’t work. We will just get louder.”
Late-night TV has struggled in recent years due to declining viewership and ad revenue, especially among younger audiences who consume clips online rather than watching full episodes. CBS recently canceled After Midnight with Taylor Tomlinson, and NBC has made budget cuts to its own late-night lineup.
Still, Colbert’s show continued to top its time slot and maintain cultural relevance. Industry expert Bill Carter, author of The Late Shift, said CBS would be naïve to think viewers won’t see the broader implications of the decision. “If CBS thinks people are just going to swallow this, they’re really deluded.”
Andy Cohen, who began his career at CBS and now hosts Watch What Happens Live, summed up the moment: “It’s a very sad day for CBS. They’re turning off the lights after the news.”
