Any hopes from CBS brass that the hubbub around the “financial decision” to shut The Late Show With Stephen Colbert would quickly die down have been dashed this week. The talk show’s cancellation, which will take effect in May of 2026, is still the topic on some of the world’s most powerful people’s lips—and now it’s the subtext of a high-profile West Hollywood billboard.
Stephen Colbert announced that his show would end on July 17, telling his audience that “It’s not just the end of our show, but the end of The Late Show on CBS. I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away.” According to a statement from CBS issued the next day, “This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”
Many people found this hard to believe, with people like David Letterman suggesting that the dismissal of Colbert, a vocal critic of President Donald Trump and the values he and his party espouse, was related to parent company Paramount’s planned merger with Skydance, a deal that would require federal approval.
“I think one day, if not today, the people at CBS who have manipulated and handled this are going to be embarrassed because this is gutless,” Letterman said last week.
“There’s no fairness to these goons,” Letterman said of Oracle founder (and significant Skydance investor) Larry Ellison and his son, Skydance CEO David Ellison. “These guys are bottom feeders. That’s exactly what this is.” Days after that interview, the merger between the companies was approved by the FCC.
By then, the backlash against the cancellation was fully underway, with industry insiders telling Vanity Fair that anonymously sourced claims that the show was losing $40 million a year were unlikely. “Where else has CBS spent $40 million they didn’t need to spend?” asked late-night writer Liz Hynes. (When contacted for confirmation on the show’s losses, which, though widely reported, have not been officially confirmed, CBS referred Vanity Fair to its initial statement on the cancellation.)
Skydance has denied playing a role in Colbert’s cancellation, Deadline reported Thursday. A few days before, Trump also proclaimed his innocence, writing in a Truth Social post that (sic throughout) “Everybody is saying that I was solely responsible for the firing of Stephen Colbert from CBS, Late Night. That is not true!” And he’s just first in a list of those who will fall, as “Next up will be an even less talented Jimmy Kimmel, and then, a weak, and very insecure, Jimmy Fallon … Colbert became a victim to himself, the other two will follow.”
The Late Night with Jimmy Fallon host infuriated many viewers with his friendly interview with Trump during the reality star’s first presidential run in 2016, which led to a drop in Fallon’s popularity as a result of Trump’s appearance, Vanity Fair noted in 2017. Public and social media mockery from Trump after his presidential term began prompted Fallon, whose show airs on NBC, to join his fellow late-night hosts in roasting the shoe salesman.
