“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” is No. 1 in the ratings and has been for years. As recently as this May, CBS executive George Cheeks said, “We have another year on [his] deal. We have not had that conversation, but we really like our hand.” 

On July 15 the show was nominated along with “The Daily Show” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for the Emmy for best talk series. 

On July 17 CBS said “The Late Show” was ending. The statement noted it was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night” and “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.” 

When Colbert announced the end of the show on that evening’s broadcast, he said, “It is a fantastic job. I wish somebody else was getting it. It’s a job that I’m looking forward to doing with this usual gang of idiots for another 10 months.”

In the days following the abrupt and out-of-the-blue cancellation, politicians from both sides of the aisle have voiced their feelings. 

The first politician to weigh in happened to be the show’s July 17 guest, Sen. Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif. He posted on social media, “Just finished taping with Stephen Colbert … If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.”

An hour later Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., posted, “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.”

The next morning President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social, “I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert! Greg Gutfeld is better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show.”

Soon after, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., posted, “CBS’s billionaire owners pay Trump $16 million to settle a bogus lawsuit while trying to sell the network to Skydance. Stephen Colbert, an extraordinary talent and the most popular late night host, slams the deal. Days later, he’s fired. Do I think this is a coincidence? NO.”

On July 19, a report citing unnamed sources said the show is reportedly losing $40 million a year. On the same day, journalist and late-night expert Bill Carter noted CBS didn’t attempt cost-saving moves, like NBC’s “The Tonight Show” recently enacted, before bidding adieu to the crown jewel of late night. 

CBS’ defense of his firing is absurd. While we can’t be certain it’s a lie, it’s pretty obvious that the main reasons for the end of “The Late Show” have very, very little to do with cost.

Executives are probably tired of the persistent and apt monologues and jokes about Paramount and CBS. They’re also concerned about a merger, a merger the host isn’t afraid to comment on. But to be surprised about the jokes and commentary, to let him go over him doing his job, is antithetical to the entire late-night industry.

Colbert is the reigning king of late night for the exact reason he may have been axed. To fire him in order to make sure a merger goes through is shortsighted. Coupled with the “60 Minutes” settlement over an interview with then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris (a settlement Colbert said is “a big fat bribe”), Paramount/CBS is cutting off its nose to spite its face. When you’re handicapping a respectable, long-running news magazine program and a Peabody–award winning late-night show in order to please a mercurial POTUS, what exactly are you trying to do? 

This might be a good time to mention that in addition to pulling in 2.42 million viewers on average every night, more than any other late-night show in his time slot, “The Late Show” also has 9.98 million YouTube subscribers. If CBS isn’t able to make those numbers work for advertisers, they should probably get out of the TV business. The math isn’t mathing.

This isn’t new to CBS. The now beloved Edward R. Murrow got similar treatment after his dogged reporting on McCarthyism, as immortalized on the silver screen in 2005’s “Good Night, and Good Luck” (and again on Broadway with a special broadcast on CNN in 2025). It didn’t matter to the network that his television show, “See It Now,” was doing good and popular work. The weekly show was canceled over rising production costs and after a lead sponsor pulled out.

While there are obvious parallels, Colbert’s departure is perhaps even stranger and sadder. 

Administrations come and go. Most television shows come and go. But late-night talk shows are institutions. To let the most popular one go to deflect the ire of any politician is the dumbest thing a television network can do.

Brandon Wetherbee is the editor of Recommend If You Like and co-author of “The Donald: How Trump Turned Presidential Politics Into Pro Wrestling.”