Late Show legend David Letterman appears to be making his feeling about his successor Stephen Colbert’s cancelation quite clear—even if he hasn’t said anything publicly.
Letterman’s eponymous YouTube account has posted multiple Colbert and CBS-related videos since CBS’ shock announcement on Thursday that it would cancel The Late Show next year following the 2025-2026 season.
“You can’t spell CBS without BS,” read the caption a 20-minute supercut of Letterman’s various snipes at the Tiffany Network throughout his nearly 22 years as the Late Show host, making fun of everything from its name to its accidental inclusion of fellow late-night host Jay Leno on its website at one point.
The montage reflected years of Letterman’s playful gripes with the network. In one segment from September 2007, Letterman showcased how CBS prominently marketed its fall line-up that year with a half-page in USA Today—while the Late Show got a single line. During others, he had a staffer portray different CBS “executives” (“Lloyd Emerson,” “Bob Steckler”) to congratulate Letterman on odd-numbered show anniversaries.
And when Time Warner Cable advertised how CBS customers could lose access to some of their favorite CBS shows, including NCIS and Big Brother, during a contract dispute in 2013, he noted how his show was oddly omitted. “Don’t worry about Dave’s show!” he joked. “He’s a goon.”
The video came three days after it posted Letterman’s Late Show interview with Colbert from June 2006, which featured Colbert discussing how he tussled with then-President George W. Bush during that year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Letterman launched the franchise in 1993 before ceding the show to Colbert in 2015. He now hosts My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman for Netflix and made his first appearance on Colbert’s Late Show in November 2023.
Letterman had griped with CBS—and its then-boss, Les Moonves—for years, battling over how the network promoted his show to how they communicated with him. Moonves, who resigned in 2018 over sexual misconduct allegations, admitted in 2016 that Letterman “hated” him during his first few years in charge, but the two eventually reached “a better place.”
The videos in tandem reflect the anger permeating through the comedy crowd after CBS’ decision to cancel The Late Show, the highest-rated show in late-night television.
A representative for Letterman, along with his production company, Worldwide Pants, did not respond to immediate requests for comment. CBS did not respond to an immediate request for comment.
CBS framed the move on Thursday as “purely a financial decision,” and reports indicated the show lost millions of dollars while costing $100 million to produce a year. But the announcement came three days after Colbert accused CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global, of paying a “big fat bribe” in its $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump in his $20 billion lawsuit over 60 Minutes.
Paramount is trying to complete its merger with David Ellison’s Skydance, which is under federal review.
Comedians have since tied the cancellation to Colbert’s frequent criticisms of Trump, amplified further by Trump’s glee on Friday over the announcement.
“Love you, Stephen. Fuck you and all your Sheldons, CBS,” wrote late-night rival Jimmy Kimmel on Instagram on Thursday.
“Stephen is one of the sharpest, funniest hosts to ever do it,” NBC rival Jimmy Fallon posted on Instagram. “I really thought I’d ride this out with him for years to come.”
“I love Stephen, I love his staff,” Last Week Tonight host John Oliver said while in Erie, Pennsylvania, last weekend. “I love that show. It’s incredibly sad. I am partly excited to see what they’re going to do for the next 10 months.”
The Late Show will end its run in May 2026.
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