The news: CBS is ending “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” next year, an announcement the titular host made during taping for his Thursday show, sparking controversy and speculation.
The move came days after Colbert criticized CBS parent company Paramount on air, saying it paid a “big fat bribe” when settling a lawsuit with Trump worth $16 million—a decision potentially influenced by the company’s hopes to secure a critical Skydance merger.
Colbert wasn’t the settlement’s only critic. The move has faced scrutiny from Democrats like Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), the latter of who claimed the deal “looks like bribery” in an X post.
The hidden cause: While there’s certainly room for speculation that “The Late Show” was canceled for political reasons—especially given other news like recent federal budget cuts for NPR and PBS—politics might not be the sole cause.
- The late-night TV model has been struggling for years now amid audience fragmentation and nosediving linear revenues, per CNN, with a CBS insider describing “The Late Show” as “cratering.”