Stephen Colbert says CBS is ending his ‘Late Show’ in May 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — CBS is axing “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” in May 2026, the host told an audience at a taping Thursday.

The announcement came two days after Colbert spoke out against CBS Global settling with President Donald Trump over a “60 Minutes” story.

“I am offended,” Colbert said in his monologue Monday night. “I don’t know if anything — anything — will repair my trust in this company. But, just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would help.”

He said the technical name in legal circles for the deal was “big fat bribe.”

The news of the show being canceled was also announced in a press release sent from CBS with a link to a clip of Colbert’s announcement on Instagram.

The comedian and TV personality began by telling the audience he was sharing something he learned the night before, that “Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending the Late Show in May… it’s the end of the Late Show on CBS. I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away.”

The most recent ratings from Nielsen show Colbert as winning his timeslot, with about 2.417 million viewers across 41 new episodes. It also said his late night show was the only one to gain viewers so far this year.