FCC chair trolls Democrats over ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ cancellation

Just after various late-night hosts made it clear where they stand on the issue of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert being cancelled, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission weighed in with his own — quite different — opinion.

“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, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, wrote Tuesday on X,

Carr also posted a news headline that proclaimed Colbert had a short response to Trump, after the president celebrated the cancellation: “Go f— yourself.” The political official added his own comment, “I’m surprised to learn that CBS didn’t find this stuff profitable.”

EW has reached out to both the show and Colbert.

Carr’s words come less than a week after CBS announced that its long-running franchise The Late Show will end in May. Though the “Tiffany Network” said its decision was “purely a financial” one, critics have questioned how much the pending sale of CBS parent company Paramount Global to Skydance Media, which requires the approval of the Trump administration. factored into their decision to pull the plug. After all, Colbert — like most late-night hosts — has been a vocal critic of the president.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, too, questioned the timing of the ax. Warren noted that the move occurred just after Colbert slammed Paramount for settling a suit with Trump for $16 million that some legal observers said should have been dismissed. The Massachusetts Democrat likened it to “a deal that looks like bribery.”

The words came just hours after several late-night hosts showed up on Monday’s episode of The Late Show. Jon Stewart, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver all made appearances as part of a parody of a couple whose affair was exposed when they were caught embracing on the jumbotron at a Coldplay concert.

Many of the late-night hosts had decried the end of the series on their own shows.

For his part, Colbert has vowed to be just as outspoken as he’s been in the past, particularly when it comes to the Trump White House. Since he’s received the bad news about his show, he’s continued to criticize Trump for his handling of issues such as the Jeffrey Epstein files.

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Meanwhile, Trump seems entirely dissatisfied that Colbert is, so far, the only late-night host on the way out.

“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,” Trump claimed on his social media platform Truth Social, without citing any evidence. “These are people with absolutely NO TALENT, who were paid Millions of Dollars for, in all cases, destroying what used to be GREAT television.”

He added, “It’s really good to see them go, and I hope I played a major part in it!”