Critics laid into CBS and its parent company Thursday after the network confirmed that famed comedian Stephen Colbert's "Late Night" show would be canceled following his disparaging comments about its deal with President Donald Trump.
CBS said it would end Colbert's show next season, but executives insisted the cancellation was "purely a financial decision."
Critics noted the curious timing of the announcement, however, as Colbert criticized the network just days earlier over CBS's deal with Trump to settle his lawsuit — widely regarded by legal experts as frivolous — over their editing of a "60 Minutes" interview with then–Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential campaign.
"I believe this kind of complicated financial sentiment with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles. It’s ‘big fat bribe,’ because it all comes as Paramount’s owners are trying to get the Trump administration to approve the sale of our network to a new owner, Skydance!" Colbert said.
The internet quickly blasted the ouster.
Jaime Harrison, former chair of the Democratic National Committee, wrote on X, "First the newspapers and now the networks … silencing any voices of dissent."
Sarah Reese Jones, analyst at PoliticsUSA, lamented on X, "The CBS cave to Trump continues as the Trump allied owners of CBS had the network announce that it will be canceling Late Night With Stephen Colbert in May of 2026."
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) wrote on X, "Just finished taping with Stephen Colbert who announced his show was cancelled. If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better."
Prominent media critic Jeff Jarvis wrote on X, "F-- CBS, Paramount, Ellison. This is no 'financial decision.' It is Trump taking over American media. This is Hungary. This is disgusting."
