Overview
- In a New York Times interview published Tuesday, Stephen Colbert said he does not dispute CBS’s financial rationale for canceling The Late Show but added that “two things can be true” and that the situation “seems fishy” to some viewers.
- Colbert pointed to Paramount’s $16 million settlement with President Trump over a 60 Minutes piece and the company’s Skydance merger under FCC review as context for why the timing raised suspicions.
- He disclosed that CBS urged him in 2023 to sign a deal “as long as five years,” yet he chose a three-year extension and the network ended the show less than two years later, which he summarized as “something changed.”
- The Late Show will air its final episode on May 21, 2026, and reports say CBS will retire the franchise and fill the 11:35 p.m. slot with Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen.
- Colbert rejected the “partisan” label for his Trump jokes as character-driven criticism and said he aims to end his CBS tenure on good terms, reflecting both the politics-versus-economics debate and the larger late-night shift as ad dollars move to streaming and online video.