The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is nearing the end of the road, as the show is set to wrap up its 11-season run this week as part of the 2026 TV schedule. Ahead of the talk show’s farewell tour, there was a lot of talk about the show’s surprising cancellation. Many have debated the reasoning that CBS’ parent company, Paramount Skydance, has given for pulling the plug on the series. Now, ahead of his final sign-off, Colbert is getting real about where he stands with Paramount’s CEO.
Skydance and Paramount merged in 2025 and, after that consolidation, David Ellison took the reins as CEO. In time, Paramount opted not to renew The Late Show, with that move coming after Colbert criticized his employers on air for settling a $16 million lawsuit with U.S. President Donald Trump involving 60 Minutes. That suit was widely viewed by analysts as the last hurdle that could prevent the merger from receiving FCC approval.
More recently, Colbert spoke with THR, during which much of the cancellation drama was discussed. The veteran media personality was also asked about his current standing with Ellison. According to Colbert, he and Ellison do not currently have a relationship, though they have apparently spoken to each other. Colbert also laid out what he’d heard about the businessman when the merger was still coming together:
No, I mean, I’ve spoken to the guy, and I hear great things about him. I have many friends who [said to me during the early merger talks,] ‘You guys will be lucky if it’s David Ellison because he actually cares about making stuff and he wants the talent to be happy.’ And I really looked forward to having that conversation with him and saying, ‘Hey, I hear great things about you. I hope we can have a great time together.’ I never got to have that conversation. But I’ve had a conversation with the guy.
So what exactly do a late-night talk show host and the head of a major media corporation talk about when they meet up? Well, Colbert shed some light on that, too, and I’m honestly surprised by the topic. He and Ellison apparently had a conversation regarding a piece of technology that the former thought could be invaluable for the company:
I have a cloud-based script software company called Scripto, and I’d read an article where [Ellison] said, ‘I want to create a studio in the cloud.’ And I went, ‘You know what? No one knows [our software] exists because basically it’s us and our friends who use it. SNL uses it, The Daily Show, [John] Oliver — there’s maybe a dozen shows.’ So, I said, ‘Baby, see if you can get me a call with him and please tell him it’s not [about The Late Show].’ And he took the call, which is very nice.
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Ellison and co. explained months ago that The Late Show’s cancellation came down to financial factors, though some individuals who work in the industry have argued against that claim. However, per monetary details that eventually surfaced, the late-night program had allegedly been losing millions of dollars over the last several years. Additionally, there were also those who believed that the decision to cancel Colbert’s show was politically motivated. Yet Colbert himself doesn’t buy into that politics-based theory.
In the lead-up to his final show, Stephen Colbert has been opening up about a quite a bit. That includes the phone call he had with CBS’ entertainment head, George Cheeks, after the cancellation and the amount of time the Late Show staff have to pack up their belongings after the last show. Colbert has mostly played coy when it comes to what he wants to do next but, based on his comments, it’s hard to say if fans can expect him to go into business with David Ellison at some point.
Check out the final episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which airs on Thursday, May 21 at 11:35 p.m. ET.
