The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS will not be renewed for another season, with the network calling it a “financial decision.”
The ending of Colbert’s show represents a significant shift from the era of late-night TV in the streaming age, in which younger viewers have opted for new media instead of more traditional programming. CBS executives hailed Stephen Colbert as being in the “pantheon of greats” upon announcing his show’s cancelation.
“We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire ‘The Late Show’ franchise” in May of 2026,” executives said in a statement. “We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television. 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.”
According to Variety, Colbert was “informed of the network’s decision Wednesday evening, according to a person familiar with the matter.”
Colbert reportedly informed the audience during the taping for Thursday’s broadcast.
The cancelation comes just days after Stephen Colbert denounced his parent company’s $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump, calling it a “big, fat bribe” for the Skydance merger.
“While I was on vacation, my parent corporation Paramount paid Donald Trump a $16 million settlement over his 60 Minutes lawsuit, as someone who has always been a proud employee of this network,” he said. “I’m offended, and I don’t know if anything will ever repair my trust in this company. But just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would help.”
Colbert went on to describe the president’s complaint as a “nuisance lawsuit,” adding that Paramount declared it to be “completely without merit” when issuing the settlement.
“And keep in mind, Paramount produced Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. They know ‘completely without merit,’” he joked. “Now, unlike, unlike the payoffs from ABC and Twitter, Paramount’s settlement did not include an apology — that’s good.”
“Instead, the corporation released a statement where they said, ‘You may take our money, but you will never take our dignity. You may, however, purchase our dignity for the low, low price of $16 million. We need the cash,’” he added.
Colbert concluded that the settlement amounted to little more than a “big, fat bribe.”
“Now, I believe this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles: It’s big fat bribe, because this all comes as Paramount owners are trying to get the Trump administration to approve the sale of our network to a new owner, Skydance.”
Earlier this month, Paramount agreed to settle Trump’s lawsuit against CBS, agreeing to pay $16 million over an edited interview of former presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Paramount said the settlement will also include Trump’s legal fees and costs, adding the $16 million, minus the legal costs, will go toward Trump’s presidential library.
“As part of the settlement, Paramount also agreed to release transcripts of ’60 Minutes’ interviews with eligible U.S. presidential candidates after such interviews have aired, subject to redactions as required for legal or national security concerns. The settlement does not include an apology,” noted the New York Times.
Shari Redstone, the chair and controlling shareholder of Paramount, reportedly wanted to explore a settlement with Trump, with some speculating that it may have stemmed from needing the Trump administration’s approval in a multi-billion dollar sale of the company to Skydance.
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