CBS, the US network behind The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, has denied speculation that the shock cancellation of the talk show was due to political reasons.
ICYMI, Colbert — who has hosted the late-night show since 2015 — announced that the series was ending during a live taping on Friday local time.
The host said the cancellation will come into effect in May of 2026, bringing an end to a show that was the highest-rated among the late-night circuit in the US.
“Next year will be our last season,” Colbert amid audible boos from the live taping crowd.
“It’s the end of The Late Show on CBS,” he added, while revealing he had found out about the show’s axing the night prior.
“This is all just going away.”
The timing of the news immediately sparked concerns that Colbert — a staunch critic of Donald Trump — was taken off the air for political reasons, particularly given a recent lawsuit involving the US president and Paramount, the parent company of CBS.
That lawsuit was settled just two weeks ago, and saw Trump accuse CBS News of deceptively editing an interview with then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris back in October.
The president alleged that the news network unfairly edited an interview with Harris to “tip the scales in favour of the Democratic party” in the lead up to the presidential election, and Paramount agreed to settle the matter, with admitting guilt or apologising, by paying $16 million to Trump’s future library or other cause.
Colbert criticised the settlement during a taping of his show just days ago, saying Paramount had succumbed to a “big fat bribe” from the president.
Naturally, it raised questions around whether political reasons were behind the The Late Show going dark.
CBS denied that speculation in a statement, saying the decision was purely financial.
“This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night,” the network said per 9News.
“It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”
Despite the clarification, a whole host of notable names have come out swinging against CBS, with Bernie Sanders saying it was not a “coincidence” Colbert was dropped days after criticising the network for its handling of the Trump lawsuit.
For their part, fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon and Andy Cohen each reacted to the news on social media.
Stephen Colbert took over hosting duties from David Letterman a decade ago, and interviewed the likes of Barack Obama and even Trump himself throughout his time on the show.
Lead images: Stephen Colbert/YouTube, Seth Meyers/Instagram and Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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