CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'

What happened

CBS is ending "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" next year, its host told a live audience Thursday. The late-night talk show debuted in 1993 with David Letterman as host before Colbert took over in 2015. Earlier this month, CBS's parent company Paramount settled a $16 million lawsuit with President Donald Trump over a 2024 episode of "60 Minutes" Trump alleged was deceptively edited. On Monday, Colbert slammed the payment as a "big fat bribe."

Who said what

This decision was "purely financial" and unrelated to the show's "performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount," CBS executives said in a statement. Indeed, media companies are "growing wary of the high price tags" of production while younger audiences turn to digital video, said Variety.

But the cancellation comes "just THREE DAYS" after Colbert's monologue on the Paramount settlement, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren said on X, adding that "America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons."

What next?

"The Late Show" will officially end in May of 2026. Colbert said he was looking forward to hosting for the next 10 months.