Overview
- The finale, which aired Thursday, May 21, 2026, ran about 77 minutes, featured numerous celebrity cameos and ended with Paul McCartney joining Colbert for a musical send‑off.
- Colbert framed the night as a ‘regular’ episode, opened by thanking staff and the audience, and largely avoided an explicit political closing line.
- CBS announced last year that it was ending the show for financial reasons and began filling the 11:35 p.m. slot the next night, May 22, with Byron Allen’s syndicated Comics Unleashed under a time‑buy arrangement.
- Critics and some staffers linked the timing to corporate and political context, noting Paramount’s recent $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump during merger activity, and Trump posted disparaging comments about Colbert after the finale.
- The show remained a top-rated late‑night program while costing the network millions each year, and its end signals a broader industry trend toward lower‑cost leased or syndicated late‑night blocks and immediate staff disruption at the Ed Sullivan Theater.