“The Late Show” leftist host Stephen Colbert confirmed that his final episode will air May 21, saying that having a set end date makes the program’s conclusion feel more concrete.
Colbert told “Late Night” host Seth Meyers that his perspective has changed since last summer. “It feels real now,” Colbert said of knowing when his final show will be broadcast. “It did not feel… I know it was real, but now, there’s four months left.”
“What I really love is the people I do it with,” he continued. “There are people I’ve been working with… My shoemaker, Tom Purcell, I’ve known since 1988. And so, we’ve all been together forever.”
“You can do comedy a lot of different places,” Colbert went on. “There’s no place like the Ed Sullivan Theater, but it’s really the people. That’s really what I care about. That’s really what I’ll miss more than anything, and we’ll do something else together, but it feels real now. I’m not thrilled with it.”
.@stephenathome talks about what he’ll miss most about working at @colbertlateshow pic.twitter.com/VRBz1rvuxB
— Late Night with Seth Meyers (@LateNightSeth) January 28, 2026
CBS announced last summer that “The Late Show,” which began in 1993, would conclude this year and not be replaced.
“The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will end its historic run in May 2026 at the end of the broadcast season,” CBS said in a statement at the time. “We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire The Late Show franchise at that time. We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television.”
“This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount,” it continued.
One report stated that the program was losing $40 million annually.
Colbert followed the announcement with an expletive-laced monologue in which he blasted President Donald Trump and CBS. During the segment, Colbert referenced Paramount Global, CBS’s parent company, noting that it paid Trump a $16 million settlement after being accused of election interference.
George Cheeks, the president and CEO of CBS Entertainment, reiterated later that the decision was purely financial and said that “The Late Show” was losing “significant” amounts in the “tens of millions of dollars.”
“At the end of the day, it just wasn’t sustainable to continue,” Cheeks confirmed.
.png)
.png)
