Overview
- The Late Show aired its final episode Thursday night at the Ed Sullivan Theater, closing Colbert’s 11-year run and the 33-year Late Show franchise.
- The finale featured Paul McCartney and numerous celebrity cameos and used a hole/black-hole metaphor to reflect on the program’s end.
- Nielsen ratings showed the episode averaged about 6.74 million viewers, the biggest weeknight audience Colbert has drawn.
- CBS and Paramount announced the show’s cancellation in July 2025 and called it a financial move, but critics point to Paramount–Skydance merger talks and a prior $16 million settlement with President Trump as reasons for skepticism.
- Hours after the finale, President Trump posted a viral AI video mocking Colbert, renewing debate over political pressure, synthetic media and the future of nightly political satire as CBS moves the slot to Byron Allen’s nonpolitical, repeat-friendly program.