Jon Stewart launches passionate defence of ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ following CBS cancellation
Jon Stewart has rushed to the defence of Stephen Colbert after CBS announced plans to cancel The Late Show.
Last week, the broadcaster confirmed they wouldn’t be renewing the longstanding nightly talk show beyond its next season, and revealed the final episode would air in May 2026.
Since then, it has been reported by Puck News that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was costing $100 million to produce per year, and was losing $40 million on an annual basis.
CBS said of the cancellation: “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.”
Colbert responded to the news by telling viewers: “I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away. And I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners. I’m so grateful to the Tiffany Network for giving me this chair and this beautiful theater to call home. And of course I’m grateful to you, the audience, who have joined us every night.”
Donald Trump immediately took to Truth Social to celebrate Colbert’s cancellation, writing, “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.”
In response, Stewart said on The Daily Show on July 21st, “I understand the corporate fear. I understand the fear that you and your advertisers have with $8 billion at stake, but understand this, truly, the shows that you now seek to cancel, censor, and control — a not insignificant portion of that $8 billion value — came from those fucking shows.”
The $8 billion offer relates to a merger between Paramount, which owns CBS and Comedy Central, with Skydance Media, which is awaiting approval by the Federal Communications Commission which is part of the Trump administration. Additionally, Trump was recently awarded a $16 million settlement by CBS over the editing of an interview with Kamala Harris on 60 Minutes.
Stewart believes Colbert’s success is a reason why CBS is worth so much, adding, “That’s what made you that money. Shows that say something, shows that take a stand, shows that are unafraid.”
The comedian continued: “And if you believe, as corporations or as networks, you can make yourself so innocuous that you can serve a gruel so flavourless that you will never again be on the boy king’s radar — A) Why will anyone watch you? And you are fucking wrong.”
Meanwhile, during his broadcast last night, Colbert said “the gloves are off” before adding, “I can finally speak unvarnished truth to power and say what I really think about Donald Trump, starting right now. I don’t really care for him. Doesn’t seem to have the skill set to be president. Just not a good fit.” The host concluded his monologue by telling Trump, “Go fuck yourself”.
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