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CBS Cancelled Stephen Colbert for "Financial Reasons." Really? [1]
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Date: 2025-07-18
The Late Show starring Stephen Colbert was cancelled by CBS effective as of May. The network claimed, defensively, that it was not because Colbert persistently mocked Donald Trump and that parent company Paramount needed the Trump administration to approve a merger worth billions. Trump, of course, gloated about the news. The liar-in chief just can’t resist demeaning anyone and everyone who ever criticizes him even in the most minor way.
So, how plausible does the stated reason for cancelling Colbert’s show seem to you? Yes, his show is expensive to create, and yes, ad revenues supporting the show have fallen. Colbert continued, however, to remain as the number one rated late night show, although the audience size for all such shows has been slipping. What strikes me as particularly clumsy if not just plain stupid, however, is that Colbert was surprised by the cancellation of his show. He is a producer, so why wasn’t he involved in discussions regarding ways to lower costs? The timing of the announcement by CBS just warrants strong suspicion that this was a political decision regarding Colbert’s humorous monologue comments about Paramount “bribing” Trump to approve the merger. Remember, CBS paid Trump $16 million to settle his suit regarding the 60 Minutes editing of an interview with Kamala Harris during the presidential campaign. Legal experts across the board described the Trump suit as frivolous. Was this yet another fawning big corporation prostrating itself to please our wannabe dictator president? Why now? Why not wait to announce the cancellation in the fall? The Late Show will continue until May. The juxtaposition of the pending merger, Trump’s needed approval, his publicly blatant hatred of Colbert, and the cancellation makes the “financial decision” claim dubious if not just completely implausible. The entire event smacks of stupid decision making on several levels. Stephen Colbert is a decent, honorable person. He deserved much better treatment, even if CBS isn’t just blowing smoke in its defense. The timing, however, is inexplicably dumb if it wasn’t in fact a political decision.
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