Critics say cancellation was a political sop to Donald Trump

American comedy talk show institution The ​Late Show with Stephen Colbert is to end in May, the CBS network has unexpectedly  announced.

Executives said the surprise move was a ‘purely a financial decision… not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters’.

However commentators have observed that the move may be politically expedient, and not just because Colbert has been a frequent critic of Donald Trump.

CBS’s parent company Paramount is planning to merge with Skydance Media, a move that would require approval from the US federal government.

Two weeks ago, Paramount paid $16million (£12 million) to settle a lawsuit Trump brought claiming that the 60 Minutes news programme had edited an interview with his presidential election rival Kamala Harris too sympathetically. 

Many legal experts believed the case had no merit and could have easily been defended under the free-speech First Amendment of America’s constitution, leading to allegations the payoff towards a Trump Presidential Library was essentially a sweetener. 

60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens resigned over the payment and  Colbert himself described the settlement as a ‘big fat bribe’.

He joked on his show earlier this week: ‘I don’t know if anything – anything – will repair my trust in this company [Paramount]. But, just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would help. 

‘Paramount knows they could easily have defended it because in their own words the lawsuit was completely without merit. And bear in mind they produced Transformers: Rise Of The Beast. They know completely without merit.’

Democratic Senator Adam Schiff posted on X: ‘If Paramount and CBS ended the Late ​Show for political reasons, the public deserved to know.’

On Tuesday, two days before the fate of The Late Show was announced, news agency the Associated Press predicted that both Colbert and the Daily Show’s  Jon Stewart might be in the firing line. The Daily Show airs on Paramount-owned Comedy Central.

Its story said:  ‘A handful of media reports in the past two weeks have speculated that Skydance boss David Ellison might try to curry favour with Trump by eliminating the  comics’ jobs if the sale is approved.’

Trump has called Colbert ‘a complete and total loser’

The Late S​how started in 1993 with David Letterman at the helm, with Colbert taking over in 2015.

On last night’s show he said: ‘I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners. And of course, I'm grateful to you, the audience, who have joined us every night in here, out there, all around the world.’

When the audience the Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York booed the news, he said: ‘Yeah, I share your feeling.

‘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.

‘It is a fantastic job. I wish somebody else was getting it.’

Networks have been struggling to attract younger viewers as audiences fragment – yet Colbert leads in the late-night ratings.

In a statement, CBS said: ‘ We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire The Late ​Show franchise.

‘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.’

Published: 18 Jul 2025