A decision to cancel the "Late Show With Stephen Colbert" is prompting members of Congress to speak out, as the timing draws attention to a recent settlement between Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)(NASDAQ:PARAA) and President Donald Trump.
What Happened: Paramount, which owns the CBS network, has confirmed plans to end the "Late Show" in May 2026, news that comes after the media company settled a lawsuit with Trump surrounding a "60 Minutes" interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Paramount previously called the Trump lawsuit meritless before agreeing to pay $16 million to settle it.
Stephen Colbert, who has hosted the "Late Show" since 2015, recently said the settlement could be a "big fat bribe." Days later, he announced to his audience that the show was ending.
Members of Congress are speaking out, questioning the timing of the cancellation and how it may relate to Paramount’s efforts to win over Trump as the company pushes through its merger with Skydance. This merger still requires approval from the Trump administration.
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) tweeted about the questionable timing.
"CBS canceled Colbert's show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that looks like bribery. America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons. Watch and share his message," Warren tweeted, sharing Colbert's message to his audience.
Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) was a recent guest on the "Late Show" and also referred to the timing in a tweet.
"Just finished taping with Stephen Colbert who announced his show was cancelled. If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better," Schiff tweeted.
Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) shared a CNN link to the cancellation news and leveled a rather blunt allegation.
"CBS sells out…again," Heinrich tweeted.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), like Warren, also said that Americans deserve to know if politics influenced the decision.
"Stephen Colbert's show was canceled three days after he called out Paramount, CBS's parent company, for folding to Trump with a $16M settlement for a lawsuit that even they called ‘without merit.' People deserve to know if this is a politically motivated attack on free speech," Jayapal tweeted.
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Why It's Important: Live television has faced declining ratings in the era of streaming, especially late-night non-sports programming. The decision to cancel a late-night talk show may, in fact, be a "financial decision."
The timing of the decision will likely continue to raise red flags and be a major talking point ahead of the merger with Skydance.
"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," the company stated.
Paramount's decision comes after the settlement with Trump, and as Warren has accused the media company and others of "bribery in plain sight."
In a recent report, Warren stated that over $63 million has been donated to Donald Trump’s future presidential library by companies that may be doing so to gain favor with the president today.
“The timing of these donations — coming while Trump sits in office and makes critical decisions that may impact the same donors — raises serious ethical concerns about potential bribery and influence-peddling,” Warren said.
Paramount was named in the report, with the $16 million settlement being donated to the presidential library.
“We could be seeing giant companies like Paramount and Meta and foreign countries like Qatar pay Trump off in plain sight. Government should work for the American people, not just whichever giant company or foreign government can dump the most money into the president’s future library,” Warren added.
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