Former late night host Conan O’Brien weighed in with his thoughts about “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert being canceled, saying he believes the future of this genre is doomed.
“I’ve dabbled in other things, but that’s where I’ve lived,” the former host of “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” “The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien,” and “Conan” <a href="https://www.tvinsider.com/1209424/conan-obrien-predicts-late-night-tv-disappear-amid-stephen-colbert-cancellation/">said</a>, per TV Insider. “And for those of you under 40, late-night television was a service designed to distract college students until science would perfect the internet and online pornography. And boy, did they get that right.”
O’Brien made his remarks as part of a speech he gave while being inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
“It’s all electrifying a new generation of viewers,” the longtime host continued. “Yes, late-night television, as we have known it since around 1950, is going to disappear. But those voices are not going anywhere. People like Stephen Colbert are too talented and too essential to go away.”
He also commented on Colbert’s situation specifically, saying, “Stephen is going to evolve and shine brighter than ever in a new format that he controls completely.”
“So, technology can do whatever they want,” O’Brien added. “It can make television a pill. It can make television shows a high-protein, chewable, vanilla-flavored capsule with added fiber. It still won’t matter, if the stories are good, if the performances are honest and inspired, if the people making it are brave and of goodwill.”
Commenters on X disagreed, saying that format of programming wasn&#8217;t going away, but that insufferable hosts like Colbert would become a thing of the past.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=summer&amp;utm_content=editorialsummersale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
&#8220;Late night TV won&#8217;t disappear as Greg Gutfeld&#8217;s late night talk show is thriving,&#8221; one person on X <a href="https://x.com/GoForDawn/status/1957394601133674589">commented</a>. &#8220;Perhaps late night talk shows will simply revert back to the comedy &amp; entertainment from which they were originally created and not the psycho political propaganda and nanny scolding too many became.&#8221;
Another person chimed in, <a href="https://x.com/tibblion2/status/1957414382914175404">writing</a>, &#8220;Because they overinflated the budgets and alienated half the audience; all other options became available through streaming and online services.&#8221;
CBS announced last month that it was canceling “The Late Show” after the upcoming season, which has inspired outsized reactions from the Left. The network described the move as a “purely financial decision.” A recent report stated that the program was losing $40 million annually.
Colbert went off on an expletive-laced tirade during his first monologue following the announcement, blasting President Donald Trump and CBS. Colbert mentioned how the network’s parent company, Paramount Global, paid Trump a $16 million settlement earlier this month after being accused of election interference.
Other late night mainstays such as Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon have come to Colbert’s defense, saying the reports claiming that “The Late Show” was losing tens of millions were “<a href="https://variety.com/2025/tv/awards/jimmy-kimmel-defends-colbert-late-night-tv-not-dying-1236479160/">nonsensical</a>.”

Conan O’Brien

Conan O’Brien Predicts Late Night Shows Will ‘Disappear’ Following Colbert Cancellation

Conan O'Brien Predicts Late Night Shows Will 'Disappear' Following Colbert Cancellation

Celebrities

Conan O'Brien

Entertainment

Stephen Colbert

Television

U.S.

George Cheeks, the president and CEO of CBS, discussed the cancellation of “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert at a press conference on Thursday. His statements come on the same day that Paramount Global and Skydance Media finalized their $8.4 billion merger.
“The challenge in late night is that the advertising marketplace is in significant secular decline,” Cheeks said following the deal closing, per <a href="https://deadline.com/2025/08/cbs-george-cheeks-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-cancelation-1236481494/">Deadline</a>. “We are huge fans of Colbert, we love the show, unfortunately the economics made it a challenge for us to keep going.”
“I know [Skydance] is going to invest, but they’re going to invest cautiously and wisely, so for me, managing this business is really important for me to double down the area’s road in broadcast intriguing, which really is primetime and sports,” the CBS exec continued.
Despite speculation from mainstream media and Colbert himself that the cancellation was politically motivated, Cheeks said it all came down to money.
He didn’t give the exact amount that “The Late Show” was losing, but said during the press conference that it was a “significant” amount in the “tens of millions of dollars.”
“At the end of the day, it just wasn’t sustainable to continue,” Cheeks concluded.
Last month, Paramount Global agreed to a $16 million settlement in a lawsuit Trump had brought that accused the media outlet of election interference. The lawsuit stemmed from an interview CBS News’s “60 Minutes” conducted with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris one month before the 2024 election. The lawsuit alleged that the interview was edited to make it seem more coherent than it really was.
“People have been speculating about the timing of this decision from Paramount, and they’re pointing out that last Monday, just two days before my cancellation, I delivered a blistering monologue in which I showed the courage to have a mustache,” Colbert said <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/go-f-yourself-colbert-unleashes-anti-trump-tirade-amid-report-his-show-loses-40m-annually?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=%E2%80%98Go+F***+Yourself%E2%80%99%3A+Colbert+Unleashes+Anti-Trump+Tirade+Amid+Report+His+Show+Loses+%2440M+Annually">during an episode</a> that aired just after news of the upcoming cancellation dropped. “When obviously CBS saw my upper lip and boom, canceled. Coincidence? Oh, I think not. This is worse than fascism. This is stashism.”
“They clarified that the cancellation was purely a financial decision. But how could it purely be a financial decision if ‘The Late Show’ is number one in ratings? A lot of folks are asking that question, mainly my staff’s parents and spouses,” Colbert went on. 
He also accused CBS insiders of leaking financial details to justify the cancellation.
“Over the weekend, somebody at CBS followed up their gracious press release with a gracious anonymous leak saying they pulled the plug on our show because of losses pegged between $40 million and $50 million a year. $40 million is a big number. I could see us losing $24 million, but where would Paramount have possibly spent the other $16 million? Oh, yeah,” he said, seemingly referencing the amount of the settlement.

CBS Exec Comments On ‘Late Show’ Cancellation, Said It ‘Wasn’t Sustainable’

CBS CEO Comments On 'Late Show' Cancellation, Said It 'Wasn't Sustainable'

The following article was originally posted on “<a href="https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New Jerusalem</a>” on Substack.
* * *
In October, 2015, Vanity Fair magazine ran a feature story about television’s late night comedy talk shows. It was headlined “Host-to-Host Sensation.” The accompanying fold-out photo of ten top talk show comics caused a sensation of its own. Much imaginary ink was as if spilled over the shocking fact that all the hosts were men. But, of course, there was nothing shocking about that. Women aren’t funny. Even the funny ones aren’t that funny. As many another foolishly honest man has pointed out, women don’t need to be funny, not at a professional level at least. Overlooked, unathletic, angry high school boys need to be funny. If they’re not funny, their genetic strain will likely die with them. That’s the kind of urgent motivation that’s required to create a grown man with the insane courage to make jokes onstage and risk being met with dead silence.
But there was something that really was shocking about the Vanity Fair picture, something very few people who were not me bothered to mention. Every single comedy talk show host depicted — all ten of them — had exactly the same political opinions. They were all Left-wingers, and they would all come to detest and despise Donald Trump.
Now, you might say that was to be expected. The Venn Diagram of overlooked, unathletic, angry little men and Left-wing men is basically a circle with a small crescent of Nazis bulging out of one side. But what was shocking — and really kind of despicable — was this: the corporations who platformed these angry little funny leftists apparently saw no reason, financial or otherwise, to hire anyone to entertain the half of the audience who held more conservative views. Their idea seemed to be that they could make all the profits they needed by amusing one half of the audience at the expense of the other. They must have thought that was good business. They must have thought it was morally acceptable. They must have thought: “Screw you, half of America. We hurl disdain in your general direction!”
Well, strange to say, this business model did not perform all that well over time.
Listen, I’m a Christian man. I try very hard not to take pleasure in the misfortunes of my philosophical opponents. But in this case, I just can’t help it. The smug entitlement of an elite monoculture that despised the common man and woman — the men and women who, in the words of George Bailey, “do most of the working and paying and living and dying” in this country — was just begging for a comeuppance. And that uppance has come.
Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show on CBS has been cancelled and will go off the air next May. The show was making 40 million fewer dollars a year than the 130 million dollars it cost to produce. And while Colbert’s paltry ratings were the highest among his Left-wing colleagues, he and they were regularly being beaten by Greg Gutfeld, the libertarian smart aleck on Fox News. That’s cable, where the shows reach around half of the network audience, and where production costs are considerably lower.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show">WATCH: The Andrew Klavan Show</a></h3>
Now, Colbert was not born talentless. His Jon Stewart spin-off show, The Colbert Report, in which he satirized conservative commentators like Fox’s Bill O’Reilly, was often amusing. But once he landed the CBS late night spot in 2015, the laughter died. Maybe it was the big money. Maybe it was the Trump Derangement-fueled rage. Maybe it was being flattered by hand-picked audiences cheering wildly for unfunny rants. But something went sour inside Colbert. Lines like “The only thing Trump’s mouth is good for is being Putin’s cock holster,” might have seemed hilarious to the kind of ten-year-olds who laugh through their noses. But to adults — especially adults weary of having self-satisfied show biz millionaires insult them with a wholly undeserved tone of moral superiority — they seemed a tad juvenile.
But Colbert’s abilities are beside the point. Stephen Colbert was bad for America. Not on his own, maybe. On his own, he was just another Hollywood putz who mistakenly thought he had something important to say. But as a brick in a solid wall of Left-wing entertainment, he did more damage than any laughter could rectify.
Networks broadcast on airwaves that are a public trust. Their stations are licensed by a federal agency, the FCC. If the monologues on network late night comedy shows can be said to have any kind of higher purpose, surely it has something to do with bringing us together, helping us laugh in the evening at the politics and passions that drive us apart during the day. If you ridicule Barack Obama, then I’ll be willing to see what’s ridiculous about Donald Trump. If you make jokes about Ted Cruz, then maybe leftists will be able to find something funny about AOC. Fair both-sides comedy has the power to soften our angry certainties with self-awareness and humility.
But if instead, you declare late night a one political party zone, what comity can your comedy produce? If you think a crafty Chicago machine pol like Obama is so perfect that there is “not a flaw or hook that you can caricature,” (as one Saturday Night Live writer put it), why should I be amused when you hammer Trump for his many peccadillos night after night after night?
During the monologue in which Colbert announced his cancellation, he turned to the camera and told President Trump, “Go f&#8212; yourself.” But hadn’t he been saying exactly that for these many years to all the tens of millions of Americans who voted for Trump, who thought him, in their good will and wisdom, a better choice than the candidates Colbert supports?
What exactly did Colbert think he knew that allowed him to dismiss so many of his countrymen? Insult each night so many of his countrymen? Disparage and belittle so many of his countrymen by continually mocking their candidates while at the same time using his mouth as a cock holster for any lying, corrupt, incompetent, third rate Democrat lucky enough to come on his show?
What angel visited Stephen in the quiet of his cultural sequestration and told him it would be all right for him — and for every single one of his corporate comedy colleagues — to consider those tens of millions of Americans as nothing more than the butts of their jokes? If they had intended to convince those voters to change sides, wouldn’t it have been wiser to spread the jokes around even just a little? But that wasn’t their intention. They despised those voters. They hectored them out of the audience. They sent them a clear message: You are not worthy of being amused.
And, of course, it’s not just the comedians. It’s every morally flatulent entertainer who ever accepted his or her Oscar or Emmy or Grammy with a speech denouncing the politicians half the electorate prefers. As the writer tells the actress in the classic show biz film All About Eve: “I shall never understand the weird process by which a body with a voice suddenly fancies itself as a mind.”
For more than twenty years, I’ve been making speeches to conservatives, telling them they should pay more attention to the arts. To movies, to novels, to music and so on. I quote James Joyce to them: artists “forge the uncreated conscience” of a people. I quote Percy Shelley: “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” I tell them that complaining about movies and music and publishing will get them nowhere. The arts can only be redeemed by those who love them.
But maybe I was talking to the wrong people. Maybe I should have gone to the artists themselves. The arts aren’t leftist by nature, but they are liberal by nature. They find worth and dignity even in the Other. In the West, they always have. The Greeks mourned for the Trojan women. The Crusaders sang the nobility of their Muslim foes. Shakespeare reinvented the stock Evil Jew of the medieval Easter Play by granting him his full humanity.
Is there nothing of that spirit left in Hollywood? Or in publishing? Where conservative actors and writers have to talk in whispers? Where even to be a white male is to risk being barred from your vocation? No. They will not even award the Pulitzer to an iconic photograph depicting Trump’s courage under fire. They will not even put our glamorous First Lady on the covers of their fashion magazines. Ideology has made our cultural gatekeepers petty and small and mean.
Well, forgive me if that meanness has made me mean as well. The backlash is coming and has come, and I am glad to see it. With all my striving toward good will, the best I can muster for Stephen Colbert is to repeat to him the immortal words of a man more relevant, more daringly counter-cultural and, yes, a whole lot funnier than he is: “You’re fired.”
* * *
The following article was originally posted on “<a href="https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New Jerusalem</a>” on Substack.
Andrew Klavan is the host of “The Andrew Klavan Show” at The Daily Wire. Klavan is the bestselling author of numerous books, including the Cameron Winter Mystery series. The fifth installment, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/After-That-Cameron-Winter-Mysteries/dp/1613166869/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3EGZUC370LG46&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Y_NI0mDOKeowShheDQTVx5NH-fAeimJoCD56_T0Acpl8C0mup7uJf-nGGSRLEItaaekoDnvS2vWLMa4Zd2UBXQ8Y-g-P502jOWz-Y8IX3ZQsdlO7WMLrg1xIhNoKmjCorSWUR4C2l_RbiZ7apJ1MfPzGOrrEf7AdAXX6xwnJRVP_XqUfWuMuVthTWscaU3P4vgmS86-96n-721enHfX12CFQWTajqFbVnrsDkexfUf4.6_gTH6h1Bb9Pn375QdF_VAVZSayDvjQBBKGXE-MTiFo&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=klavan&amp;qid=1754049918&amp;sprefix=%2Caps%2C80&amp;sr=8-1">After That, The Dark,</a> is now available for Pre-Order. Follow him on X: <a href="https://x.com/andrewklavan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@andrewklavan</a>
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert Was Bad For America

Andrew Klavan

comedian

Comedy

Woke Culture

CBS late night host Stephen Colbert jabbed at former Vice President Kamala Harris when she refused to say who she believed was leading the Democratic Party going into the 2026 midterm elections.
Harris joined Colbert on Thursday to promote her new campaign memoir — titled &#8220;107 Days&#8221; — and after pointing out the fact that both Harris and former President Joe Biden were removed from the campaign scene, Colbert asked who would step in and lead the Democratic Party in the immediate future.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Kamala Harris was asked by canceled Late Show host Stephen Colbert who the leader of the Democrat Party is…
She couldn’t name a single person.
Even she couldn’t pretend someone was in charge.
The Democrat Party is a ship with no captain, no compass, and no clue. <a href="https://t.co/Vt3csPOstq">pic.twitter.com/Vt3csPOstq</a>
— Wesley Hunt (@WesleyHuntTX) <a href="https://twitter.com/WesleyHuntTX/status/1951285199578308914?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;You&#8217;re no longer – you&#8217;re not running for office right now, you&#8217;re stepping away from that life right now,&#8221; Colbert began. &#8220;Um — who&#8217;s leading the Democratic Party? I&#8217;m just curious.&#8221;
&#8220;There are lots of leaders, and — and — and —&#8221;Harris began, but Colbert stopped her.
&#8220;There&#8217;s generally a leader of the Democratic Party,&#8221; Colbert challenged, prompting laughs from the audience. &#8220;You know, like, &#8216;Oh, that&#8217;s the leader of the Democratic Party.&#8217; Who comes to mind?&#8221;
&#8220;I think there are a lot —&#8221; Harris said again, and then corrected herself before Colbert could interrupt again. &#8220;I&#8217;m not gonna go through names, &#8217;cause then I&#8217;m gonna leave somebody out and then I&#8217;m gonna hear about it.&#8221;
&#8220;But let me just — let me say this,&#8221; Harris continued. &#8220;I think it is a mistake for us who want to figure out how to get out and through this, and get out of it, to put it on the shoulders of any one person, it&#8217;s really on all of our shoulders.&#8221;
Harris announced earlier in the week that, after giving it a lot of thought, she had decided <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kamala-will-not-run-for-governor-in-california">not to run</a> for governor in her home state of California. Speculation continues to swirl that she may run for the presidency again in 2028.

‘There’s Generally A Leader’: Colbert Presses Kamala To Name Dem Top Dog

'There's Generally *A* Leader': Colbert Presses Kamala To Name Dem Top Dog

Kamala Harris

Media

Politics

President Donald Trump took to social media on Tuesday to deny any involvement in the ouster of CBS late-night comedian Stephen Colbert, whose stint on &#8220;The Late Show&#8221; is set to end in May of 2026.
Trump made the <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114938657898917536">comment</a> first on his Truth Social platform, arguing that Colbert&#8217;s downfall was not the result of any demand he made or any action he took — instead saying that the longtime host had become &#8220;a victim to himself&#8221; because he wasn&#8217;t funny enough to get decent ratings.
&#8220;Everybody is saying that I was solely responsible for the firing of Stephen Colbert from CBS, Late Night. That is not true!&#8221; Trump posted. &#8220;The reason he was fired was a pure lack of TALENT, and the fact that this deficiency was costing CBS $50 Million Dollars a year in losses — And it was only going to get WORSE!&#8221;
Trump cited reports that Colbert, despite bringing in some $60 million in advertising for his show, had operated at a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/go-f-yourself-colbert-unleashes-anti-trump-tirade-amid-report-his-show-loses-40m-annually">$40 million loss</a> because &#8220;The Late Show&#8221; had an annual price tag of $100 million.
He then went on to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jimmy-kimmel-is-next-trump-keeps-pouring-salt-into-open-wound-after-colbert-ouster">repeat his claim</a> that Colbert would not be the only casualty with regard to late-night comedy, saying that comedians Jimmy Kimmel (&#8220;The Jimmy Kimmel Show&#8221; on ABC) and Jimmy Fallon (&#8220;The Tonight Show&#8221; on NBC) would be the next dominos to fall.
&#8220;Next up will be an even less talented Jimmy Kimmel, and then, a weak, and very insecure, Jimmy Fallon,&#8221; he predicted. &#8220;The only real question is, who will go first? Show Biz and Television is a very simple business. If you get Ratings, you can say or do anything. If you don’t, you always become a victim. Colbert became a victim to himself, the other two will follow.&#8221;
Trump was responding to a number of people who have attempted to claim that Colbert was let go because of the ongoing merger with Paramount or due to the lawsuit that was just settled between Trump and the network over a creatively-edited interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. Senator <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dont-question-my-integrity-spartacus-returns-in-dramatic-senate-floor-showdown-for-jersey">Cory Booker</a> (D-NJ) even claimed on the Senate floor on Tuesday that Colbert had been pulled off the air — despite the fact that he will remain with the network and continue to host the show until next May — because he made jokes about Trump.

Donald Trump

Trump Denies Responsibility For Colbert Ouster: He ‘Became A Victim To Himself’

Trump Denies Responsibility For Colbert Ouster: He 'Became A Victim To Himself'

A protest aimed at defending comedian Stephen Colbert — who is set to lose his gig hosting &#8220;The Late Show&#8221; on CBS in May of 2026 — drew a crowd of tens on Sunday afternoon.
According to a <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/07/27/us-news/nycs-were-with-colbert-rally-for-late-night-host-is-bust/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_medium=social">report</a> published by The New York Post, just about 20 people showed up to voice their support for the soon-to-be ousted host — and even those who did show up didn&#8217;t stay long. The New York City cops — who were on the scene just in case the protest got out of hand — took off as well when it became apparent that nothing was happening.
The event organizer told The New York Post that his name was Matt and his nickname was &#8220;Slim&#8221; (but he would not give the outlet any other identification). He explained that he&#8217;d attempted to bring a group together outside the CBS Broadcast Center — on the West Side of Manhattan — to say &#8220;We&#8217;re with Colbert.&#8221;
&#8220;Our country is not perfect, never has been,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But we’ve always had the First Amendment, and now Mango Mussolini is trying to take that from us.&#8221;
Another protester, who refused to give her name, told the outlet, &#8220;This is a First Amendment attack. We can’t stand for that.&#8221;
CBS has stated the Colbert&#8217;s exit — in May of 2026 — was &#8220;purely a financial decision&#8221; and recent reports have indicated that Colbert&#8217;s show may have taken a loss of $40 million in the last year.
Others have suggested that politics — specifically the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cbs-host-breaks-ranks-offers-surprisingly-sane-reason-for-colberts-ouster">one-sided tone</a> of Colbert&#8217;s show — had caused him to lose popularity.
Longtime &#8220;Tonight Show&#8221; host Jay Leno addressed the changing tone in late night comedy during a recent <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/07/27/media/jay-leno-slams-late-night-hosts-for-alienating-half-audience-with-partisan-politics-against-trump/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_medium=social">interview</a> with Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation CEO David Trulio.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Late-night TV used to be about laughs — not lectures.<a href="https://twitter.com/jayleno?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jayleno</a> tells us why he never shared his political opinions on The Tonight Show, and why he thinks today’s hosts are losing half of America by doing so. <a href="https://t.co/dEvhjICdyC">pic.twitter.com/dEvhjICdyC</a>
— Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation &amp; Institute (@RonaldReagan) <a href="https://twitter.com/RonaldReagan/status/1947778371997602166?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I don’t understand why you would alienate one particular group, you know, or just don’t do it at all. I’m not saying you have to throw your support or whatever, but just do what’s funny,&#8221; Leno said, later adding, &#8220;It was fun to me when I got hate letters, ‘Dear Mr. Leno, you and your Republican friends’ and​, ‘Well, Mr. Leno, I hope you and your Democratic buddies are happy’ — over the same joke.&#8221;

NYC ‘We’re With Colbert’ Rally Draws Tens Of People, Even Cops Go Home

NYC 'We're With Colbert' Rally Draws Tens Of People

CBS News

You can’t say Stephen Colbert didn’t try.
“The Late Show” host spent years spreading every anti-Trump narrative in the media. The “Very Fine People” speech. Russian Collusion. The Ballad of Stormy Daniels. Pee-Pee tapes. If it was critical of the president, Colbert pounced and seized.
True? False? Fake News? No matter. Colbert was on the case, weaponizing his nightly broadcast as an in-kind contribution to the DNC.
Except it didn’t work. Trump returned to the Oval Office earlier this year. And, now, Colbert won’t be around the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City to watch Trump complete his second term.
<div id="attachment_952651" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-952651" class="size-large wp-image-952651" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2225461053-864x576.jpg" alt="People participate in a protest titled 'Colbert stays! Trump must go!' outside the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City on July 21, 2025. &quot;The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,&quot; a staple of late-night US television, will end in 2026, the CBS network said, days after the comedian blasted parent company Paramount's $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump as &quot;a big fat bribe.&quot; (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP) (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2225461053-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2225461053-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2225461053-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2225461053.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images</div>
“The Late Show’s” cancellation sent shock waves through Hollywood. Supporters decry the decision, ignoring the cold, hard math behind the move. Reports say the show loses CBS $40 million (or more) a year.
Why would any business keep a show on the air for that price?
“The Late Show” became free therapy sessions for those who still can’t believe the country elected the real estate mogul – twice. They tuned in to hear their beliefs reflected back at them, aided and abetted by Colbert’s smug delivery.
It must have felt empowering to hear him call Trump Vladimir Putin’s [bleep] holster at the height of the Russian collusion scandal. Did it matter that it was all built upon a lie?
Apparently not. And Colbert never felt compelled to apologize for misleading his audience.
The Colbert we see today isn’t the one we were first introduced to on, where else, “The Daily Show.” His shtick at the time, expanded via “The Colbert Report,” was mocking a Bill O’Reilly-style commentator.
He excelled at the role, earning some respect even among right-leaning viewers. He put the funny first, much like he did as part of the “Strangers with Candy” sitcom years earlier.
<div id="attachment_952649" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-952649" class="size-large wp-image-952649" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-460161346-864x576.jpg" alt="WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 8: (AFP OUT) U.S. President Barack Obama (L) talks to television personality Stephen Colbert during a taping of Comedy Central's &quot;The Colbert Report&quot; in Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University on December 8, 2014 in Washington, DC. This is President Obama's third appearance on &quot;The Colbert Report&quot; that will broadcast its final show on Dec. 18. (Photo by Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-460161346-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-460161346-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-460161346-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-460161346.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images</div>
He seemed a smart choice to succeed David Letterman on “The Late Show” in 2015, but he initially struggled in the ratings against “The Tonight Show” juggernaut. Then, Colbert found his inner Bernie Sanders and turned the showcase into a hard-Left platform.
The move paid dividends. “The Late Show” soon became the ratings leader before the rise of Fox News’ “Gutfeld!”
The shift didn’t help the show’s longevity. The bill has come due. Why?
He neglected to heed the Ghost of Johnny Carson. The late-night king knew well enough to mock both sides of the aisle and have fun doing so.
The joy seeped from Colbert’s performance. So did any sense of balance. Now, you’re as likely to see a “Pod Save America” host on his show as a Tom Cruise or Sydney Sweeney.
Progressive viewers may vote for Sen. Adam Schiff, but on a charisma scale of 1 to 10 he’s a 3, at best.
What happens next? Colbert vows to go down fighting, slamming President Trump with every sketch and monologue in his waning days. Oh, like he’s done the past nine or so years? The Legacy Media will <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2025/07/24/trump-epstein-files-late-night-hosts/85356533007/">amplify them all</a>, hoping to sway the public against Trump beyond their cartoonishly biased reportage.
Reporters will miss crafting headlines like this as much as they miss Colbert: &#8220;Late-night guys are giddy with Trump and Epstein jokes after latest developments.&#8221;
How can Colbert possibly do more to attack the Trump administration at this point? He can’t, unless he takes a page from “The View” playbook.
Unhinged conspiracies. Fear-mongering on steroids. Undisciplined rants that cause the studio audience to clap like seals and sane viewers to watch their jaws go slack. That’s all Colbert has left, and he risks losing whatever cultural heft he has remaining if he goes down that road.
Does he really want to start sharing “Legal Notes” like “The View” does to protect himself from lawsuits?
<div id="attachment_952655" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-952655" class="size-large wp-image-952655" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2225551799-864x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK CITY - JULY 21: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert during Monday's July 21, 2025 show. (Photo by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2225551799-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2225551799-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2225551799-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2225551799.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images</div>
Plus, he’s only 61. Surely, he wants to keep working in comedy once “The Late Show” expires. He’s a natural fit for video podcasting, where the modest budgetary requirements all but guarantee his success.
Sane progressives will see right through any “View”-sized transition, meaning he’ll peel off some of his base along the way. Maybe the show will lose more than $40 million over the next 10 months.
The upside for Colbert’s late-night competitors? With “The Late Show” out of the way, they’ll be more progressive viewers for them to attract, at least on paper. No Colbert? Let’s see how Jimmy Kimmel is attacking President Trump today.
It’ll be a sugar high, at best.
Late-night TV is dying. Blame YouTube, the rise of funny social media accounts or comedians who actively chased away more than half the country with their polemics. Colbert is far from alone on that front. Seth Meyers, John Oliver, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel all lean to the Left. And they kissed conservative viewers goodbye some time ago.
“<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/5612703584001">Not good riddance but riddance,”</a> as Kimmel infamously said about his shift to the hard Left.
The format likely would perish with or without Colbert’s handiwork. We stopped collecting 8-track tapes some time ago, too. His Trump obsession, and fueling insults like “Clapter” to the lexicon, a term for jokes meant to spark applause, not laughter, made matters worse.
The biggest irony? While audiences no longer find Colbert’s shtick funny, a certain two-term president is having the last laugh.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Late Night Collapse: Colbert’s Fall And The Death Of Balanced Comedy

Late Night Collapse: Colbert’s Fall and the Death of Balanced Comedy

David Letterman

Democrats

Jon Stewart

Leftists

Legacy Media

President Trump

Late-night comedian Stephen Colbert is already out of a job come next May with the imminent cancellation of &#8220;The Late Show&#8221; — but if he keeps delivering network-blasting monologues, he might push CBS News to cut him loose earlier than they planned.
Colbert took direct aim at the network over claims that his termination was purely a financial matter — rooted in the fact that his show had put up a net loss of $40 million — and argued that his ouster was proof that CBS was “morally bankrupt.”
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Colbert is going scorched earth on Paramount/CBS; calls them “morally bankrupt” over Trump settlements.
Lmao.
His employers have 10 more months of this to enjoy. <a href="https://t.co/EAkiGMKJ9n">pic.twitter.com/EAkiGMKJ9n</a>
&mdash; Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) <a href="https://twitter.com/WesternLensman/status/1948357773563253053?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Colbert suggested that the network because it just paid out millions — to settle President Donald Trump’s lawsuit over an edited interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris that aired on “60 Minutes” — and then let him go for “financial reasons.”
“That means by bending the knee, they lost like $40 million this year!” Colbert declared. “They better watch out. They might get canceled … for purely financial reasons.”
The audience laughed and booed as he continued, “The present owners are denying that additional $20 million, which I hope is true, because could you imagine how angry people would be? Last year, Paramount laid off 2000 employees — then cut another several hundred just last month. Firing that many people and then handing over $36 million to a guy who’s putting your neighbors in alligator camps, all because of a lawsuit that your own lawyers said was completely without merit.”
“If that’s true, it would make CBS look morally bankrupt,” he insisted, adding, “Also bankrupt.”
Colbert warned several days earlier that the network’s one mistake was simple: “They left me alive.”
He said at the time that because he already knew his time was up in May, he no longer felt bound to censor his thoughts on the network that was letting him go or his opinions about President Trump — and he warned the audience that he did not intend to hold anything back in the months ahead.
With his tenure already shortened, however, the question remains just how many shots he will be allowed to take at the network that — for the time being, at least — gives him a platform.

Stephen Colbert Practically Begs CBS To Fire Him Sooner In Latest Network-Blasting Monologue

&#8220;CBS Mornings&#8221; host Tony Dokoupil offered a different take than most of his colleagues — and even some at other legacy media networks — when he conceded on Tuesday that the decision to oust Stephen Colbert and cancel &#8220;The Late Show&#8221; might have been about politics, but not in the way they all thought.
Amid a virtual firestorm of complaints that Colbert&#8217;s cancellation was political — specifically, he&#8217;d been too <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-view-melts-down-over-colbert-king-trump-is-coming-for-the-court-jesters">vocally opposed to President Donald Trump</a> on a network that was staring down the barrel of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/big-and-important-win-trump-crows-over-settlement-in-cbs-paramount-lawsuit">multi-million dollar lawsuit</a> — Dokoupil argued that the &#8220;one-sided&#8221; nature of Colbert&#8217;s commentary may have put off more people than just Trump.
WATCH:
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WATCH: ‘CBS Mornings’ co-host Tony Dokoupil brings a much-needed reality check to the table of liberal journalists fawning over ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’. His co-hosts dismissed all this, proving his point:
“I don’t have an MBA, but I don’t — [Jon Stewart] is not… <a href="https://t.co/qR5R74g2vY">pic.twitter.com/qR5R74g2vY</a>
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1947754373833977899?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Co-host Vladimir Duthiers complained that, regardless of the expense to produce shows like Colbert&#8217;s, they were &#8220;part of the cultural zeitgeist and they have been part of television since the beginning of television. So that’s why people are reacting the way that they are.&#8221;
Over several objections from his co-hosts, Dokoupil laid out his point — and also argued that comedian Jon Stewart was wrong when he suggested that Paramount had felt threatened by Colbert&#8217;s show as the merger progressed: &#8220;No, I understand the emotional views. I don’t have an MBA, but [Stewart is] not right that the merger, the $8 billion, is based on reruns of a comedy show, no. People are buying the movies and the sitcoms, and the sports. They’re not based on reruns of us either, so I think it’s wrong.”
&#8220;And what no one seems to acknowledge is that the politics also changed,&#8221; Dokoupil continued. &#8220;The business changed, and so did the politics. And it got way more one-sided than anything Johnny Carson was ever doing. I think we should reflect on those changes as well. It’s been a big shift culturally in that regard, also for sure.&#8221;
&#8220;People will miss those shows when they&#8217;re gone, that&#8217;s the bottom line,&#8221; Duthiers insisted.

CBS Host Breaks Ranks, Offers Surprisingly Sane Reason For Colbert’s Ouster

CBS Host Breaks Ranks, Offers Surprisingly Sane Reason For Colbert's Ouster

The View

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr on Tuesday responded to the leftist uproar over CBS canceling “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,&#8221; pointing out that the negative reactions to the program&#8217;s demise are one-sided.
&#8220;The partisan left’s ritualist wailing and gnashing of teeth over Colbert is quite revealing,” Carr wrote on X. “They’re acting like they’re losing a loyal DNC spokesperson that was entitled to an exemption from the laws of economics.” 
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The partisan left’s ritualist wailing and gnashing of teeth over Colbert is quite revealing.
They’re acting like they’re losing a loyal DNC spokesperson that was entitled to an exemption from the laws of economics.
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/1947630093540724934?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Many commenters on the social media platform agreed. 
“They ARE losing a loyal spokesperson. They don&#8217;t care about the economics, they care about the messaging,” one account <a href="https://x.com/JeffMarshalek/status/1947965661474414814">replied</a>.
“Socialists don’t understand economics,” another <a href="https://x.com/jackfarrington/status/1947652185497444580">wrote</a>.
“Their desperation is pathetic and (Trump Derangement Syndrome) is terminal,” a third commenter <a href="https://x.com/DogRightGirl/status/1947636188266877113">chimed in</a>.
CBS announced last week that it was canceling “The Late Show” after the upcoming season, which has inspired outsized reactions from the Left. The network described the move as a “purely financial decision.” A recent report stated that the program was losing $40 million annually. 
Colbert went off on an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/go-f-yourself-colbert-unleashes-anti-trump-tirade-amid-report-his-show-loses-40m-annually">expletive-laced tirade</a> during his monologue Monday night, blasting President Donald Trump and CBS. Colbert mentioned how the network’s parent company, Paramount Global, paid Trump a $16 million settlement earlier this month after being accused of election interference. 
“People have been speculating about the timing of this decision from Paramount, and they’re pointing out that last Monday, just two days before my cancellation, I delivered a blistering monologue in which I showed the courage to have a mustache,” said Colbert. “When obviously CBS saw my upper lip and boom, canceled. Coincidence? Oh, I think not. This is worse than fascism. This is stashism.”
“They clarified that the cancellation was purely a financial decision. But how could it purely be a financial decision if ‘The Late Show’ is number one in ratings? A lot of folks are asking that question, mainly my staff’s parents and spouses,” Colbert went on. 
Next, he accused CBS insiders of leaking financial details to justify the cancellation.
“Over the weekend, somebody at CBS followed up their gracious press release with a gracious anonymous leak saying they pulled the plug on our show because of losses pegged between $40 million and $50 million a year. $40 million is a big number. I could see us losing $24 million, but where would Paramount have possibly spent the other $16 million? Oh, yeah,” he said, seemingly referencing the amount of the settlement.
Trump has since said that he anticipates an additional $20 million in advertising and public service announcements after new owners take control of Paramount.

Brendan Carr

FCC Chief Mocks Left’s Colbert Meltdown: It’s ‘Like They’re Losing A Loyal DNC Spokesperson’

FCC Chair Reacts To Leftist Outrage Over Colbert Cancellation: 'Quite Revealing'

Joy Behar claimed on Tuesday that late-night comedian Stephen Colbert had his show canceled because &#8220;King&#8221; President Donald Trump was &#8220;coming for the comedians&#8221; and not allowing the &#8220;court jesters&#8221; to do their jobs.
Referencing medieval tradition — specifically, the notion that only the court jester was allowed to mock the king and for that reason had an obligation to do so — Behar suggested that Colbert&#8217;s show was getting the axe because Trump did not like being mocked.
WATCH:
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Ignoring how he lost $40 million, Joy Behar falsely claims Stephen Colbert lost his job (in 10 months) because &#8220;King&#8221; Trump is coming for &#8220;the court jester[s].&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/TUS5ZQgdQX">pic.twitter.com/TUS5ZQgdQX</a>
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickFondacaro/status/1947676533612487056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Cohost Sunny Hostin complained that Colbert&#8217;s dismissal — which appears to have been based on net losses due to insufficient ad revenue — amounted to &#8220;the dismantling of our democracy, This is the dismantling of our Constitution.&#8221;
&#8220;If the comedians are being attacked, then that means our Constitution is being dismantled,&#8221; Hostin continued, ignoring the financial issues in play and suggesting that Colbert had been canceled solely because he was vocally opposed to Trump. &#8220;What are we going to do as a country? We must protect our Constitution and we must protect our democracy. This is bigger than just the cancellation of a television show.&#8221;
WATCH:
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Sara Haines admits that &#8220;linier TV&#8221; is on a downward slope and advertisers are not dropping the same type of money they used to as they move to digital platforms. 
She wonders: &#8220;Even when you take Stephen Colbert out of the 20 million [salary] where do you come up with the other… <a href="https://t.co/kJAh0rSgMh">pic.twitter.com/kJAh0rSgMh</a>
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickFondacaro/status/1947679867698327574?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Cohost Sara Haines conceded that there could be financial reasons for the decision, noting that advertisers were not putting up the same kind of cash they used to as streaming platforms have taken up some of the bandwidth.
Hostin pushed back, saying that Colbert had raked in some $60 million in ad buys — but left out the fact that his show cost around $100 million to produce, resulting in a $40 million loss.
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Whoopi says The View supports Colbert and they have his back. 
Despite the fact it was announced that The Late Show would be no more, she insists that &#8220;I&#8217;m not seeing that the Late Show is gone. I don&#8217;t feel like it&#8217;s gone.&#8221; 
She refused to say why she thought that, proclaiming… <a href="https://t.co/puZW9V37d4">pic.twitter.com/puZW9V37d4</a>
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickFondacaro/status/1947683430193414439?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Whoopi Goldberg weighed in then, saying that no matter what happened, she would stand with Colbert. &#8220;I&#8217;m not seeing that the Late Show is gone. I don&#8217;t feel like it&#8217;s gone.&#8221;

Joy Behar

‘The View’ Melts Down Over Colbert: ‘King’ Trump Is ‘Coming For’ The Court Jesters

‘The View’ Melts Down Over Colbert: ‘King’ Trump Is ‘Coming For' The Court Jesters

President Donald Trump jabbed at late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel for a second time in a recent Truth Social post, referencing CBS and the cancellation of &#8220;The Late Show&#8221; with host Stephen Colbert and suggesting that Kimmel&#8217;s eponymous show would be next on the chopping block.
Trump also took a swing at &#8220;Tonight Show&#8221; host Jimmy Fallon, saying that late night comedy was on its way out and happily taking credit for his role in making that happen.
&#8220;The word is, and it’s a strong word at that, Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes and, shortly thereafter, Fallon will be gone,&#8221; he posted on Tuesday. &#8220;These are people with absolutely NO TALENT, who were paid Millions of Dollars for, in all cases, destroying what used to be GREAT Television. It’s really good to see them go, and I hope I played a major part in it!&#8221;
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<a href="https://t.co/xMVGojW70d">pic.twitter.com/xMVGojW70d</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1947681611241128052?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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CBS confirmed that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-celebrates-cbs-axing-stephen-colberts-show-i-hear-jimmy-kimmel-is-next">Colbert&#8217;s show</a> was being canceled several days earlier — with its final episode to air in May of 2026 — at which point Trump&#8217;s victory lap began.
&#8220;I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings,” Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114874422468516376" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> on Truth Social at the time. &#8220;I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert! Greg Gutfeld is better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show.&#8221;
Colbert, for his part, has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/go-f-yourself-colbert-unleashes-anti-trump-tirade-amid-report-his-show-loses-40m-annually">not been amused</a> by the jokes at his expense since the news broke — particularly those coming from the White House.
&#8220;How dare you, sir?&#8221; Colbert scolded. &#8220;Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism? Go f*** yourself!&#8221;
&#8220;They made one mistake,&#8221; Colbert said of the network, suggesting that his imminent ouster gave him freedom to say what he could not before. &#8220;They left me alive. Now, for the next 10 months, the gloves are off. I can finally speak unvarnished truth to power and say what I really think about Donald Trump.&#8221;

Jimmy Kimmel

‘Jimmy Kimmel Is Next’: Trump Keeps Pouring Salt Into Open Wound After Colbert Ouster

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