teo123CBS has announced that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will end its run in May 2026, prompting a profanity-laced response from ABC host Jimmy Kimmel and renewed speculation over the network’s internal politics, as reported by The Washington Free Beacon.
The decision to cancel The Late Show comes just days after Colbert criticized CBS’s parent company, Paramount, for settling a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump.
Trump’s lawsuit alleged that the network deceptively edited an interview with then-candidate Kamala Harris to promote her 2024 campaign.
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The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed sum. Colbert called the settlement a “big fat bribe,” accusing Paramount of trying to gain favor with the Trump administration to secure approval for its pending merger with Skydance Media.
Following CBS’s announcement, Kimmel posted a reaction on Instagram Stories: “Love you Stephen. F**k you and all your Sheldons CBS,” referencing the network’s programming slate, including The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon.
CBS denied any connection between the show’s cancellation and Colbert’s recent criticism, stating in a press release that the decision was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night” and “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”
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Colbert, who took over the show from David Letterman in 2015, has made The Late Show a central platform for progressive politics and criticism of President Trump.
In recent months, Colbert hosted New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, a self-identified socialist whose far-left positions, including support for anti-Israel causes, have caused friction within the Democratic Party.
In Thursday’s taping, Colbert addressed the cancellation directly. “I found out just last night, next year will be our last season,” he said. “The network will be ending The Late Show in May.”
“It’s not just the end of our show, but it’s the end of The Late Show on CBS,” Colbert continued. “I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away.”
While CBS insists the decision is based on financial factors, the timing of the cancellation, paired with Colbert’s recent remarks and the network’s merger plans, has led to speculation over deeper internal and political tensions.
The Late Show has been a staple of CBS’s late-night programming for decades, with David Letterman hosting from 1993 to 2015 before Colbert took over.
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