Colbert And Stewart Lash Out After CBS Cancels ‘The Late Show’

Comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert responded with profanity-laced tirades this week following the announcement that CBS will cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert after its current season ends in May 2026. The two late-night hosts used their platforms to criticize CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, as well as President Donald Trump, who publicly celebrated the cancellation. Shortly after the news broke, Trump wrote, “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.” On Monday’s episode of The Daily Show, Stewart targeted Paramount’s ongoing merger talks with Skydance Media, a deal estimated at $8 billion, accusing the company of financial cowardice and bowing to political pressure. Without presenting evidence, Stewart claimed shows like The Late Show had made CBS significant revenue, despite public reports of the show losing tens of millions annually. “Shows that say something, shows that take a stand, shows that are unafraid — this is not a ‘We speak truth to power.’ We don’t. We speak opinions to television cameras. But we try. We f—— try, every night,” Stewart said in a monologue that leaned more toward grievance than comedy. He went on to accuse corporate media of trying to fly under Trump’s radar by becoming “so innocuous” as to be unnoticeable, concluding the segment with a gospel choir chanting “sack the f— up” and “go f— yourself.” As a cable show, The Daily Show is not subject to the same Federal Communications Commission (FCC) content restrictions as network programming. Shortly after Stewart’s monologue aired, Colbert echoed the sentiment on The Late Show, responding to Trump’s online celebration of his show’s cancellation with his own expletive-laden attack. “Go f— yourself,” Colbert said directly to Trump while staring into the camera under the graphic “Eloquence Cam,” a bit that drew applause from the studio audience. Colbert also addressed Trump’s suggestion that fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel would be next to be fired, joking, “Kimmel, I am the martyr. There’s only room for one on this cross. And the view is fantastic from up here.” CBS announced last week that The Late Show would end in 2026, calling it a financial decision unrelated to the show’s content or political leanings. According to internal reports, the show was losing approximately $40 million annually, despite employing a staff of 200. The decision followed Colbert’s public criticism of CBS’s $16 million legal settlement with Trump, which he labeled a “big, fat bribe” tied to the Skydance merger — an accusation that CBS did not address directly. While Colbert’s defenders have framed the cancellation as politically motivated, available financial data supports claims that the decision was primarily driven by cost-cutting in a shifting media landscape, where traditional late-night programming has struggled to remain relevant. In fact, a CBS executive stated, “We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire The Late Show franchise. This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.” Stewart and Colbert’s reactions seem to follow in the increasingly familiar footsteps of other recently dismissed media figures who lash out at corporations, politicians, or the public, while rarely pausing to consider whether their content simply failed to resonate. Instead of reflecting on whether they could have better listened to audiences or adapted to a changing media environment, both hosts leaned heavily into sanctimony — a posture that may help rally loyal fans, but does little to address why viewership and profitability declined in the first place. Colbert’s fall from late-night prominence marks a broader transition away from the once-dominant format, as younger viewers turn increasingly to online platforms and streaming content for political commentary and satire. What remains to be seen is whether the end of The Late Show signals a broader collapse of politicized late-night television, or simply a shift in who’s still watching.