Copyright Screen Rant
Stephen Colbert responds to theories that President Donald Trump got The Late Show canceled, explaining his perspective on what happened. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was cancelled by CBS in July 2025, citing the end of the late-night talk show as a financial decision. The show remains ongoing and will air its final episode in May 2026. However, rumors began swirling not long after that President Trump was involved in axing the show. The ending was announced not long after Colbert spoke out against CBS' parent company, Paramount, for a $16 million settlement with Trump over a lawsuit against 60 Minutes. US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff also pushed the narrative that political factors were involved. Speaking with GQ, Colbert explained that he understands why some would consider The Late Show's cancellation to be politically motivated. He cites Paramount's lawsuit settlement as a potential attempt to "curry favor" with Trump. However, he also said he doesn't want to speculate, wanting to keep an amicable relationship with CBS and Paramount while his show finishes up: That’s not my reaction to it. My reaction as a professional in show business is to go: That is the network’s decision. I can understand why people would have that reaction because CBS or the parent corporation — I’m not going to say who made that decision, because I don’t know; no one’s ever going to tell us — decided to cut a check for $16 million to the president of the United States over a lawsuit that their own lawyers, Paramount’s own lawyers, said is completely without merit. And it is self-evident that that is damaging to the reputation of the network, the corporation, and the news division. So it is unclear to me why anyone would do that other than to curry favor with a single individual. If people have theories that associate me with that, it’s a reasonable thing to think, because CBS or the corporation clearly did it once. But my side of the street is clean and I have no interest in picking up a broom or adding to refuse on the other side of the street. Not my problem. So people can have their theories. I have my feelings about not doing the show anymore, but you’d have to show me why that’s a fruitful relationship for me to have with my network for the next nine months, for me to engage in that speculation. In addition, Colbert said he has a "great relationship with CBS," explaining how it made their decision to cancel the show feel so sudden. He praised them for the work he's been able to do with them, stating that he still has a strong relationship with them despite the approaching end of his show: It’s one of the reasons why this was so surprising and so shocking that there was no preamble to this. We do budgets and everything like that. We’ve done cuts and stuff like that. So that’s why it was surprising to me, as I said, but I meant what I said [on air] the next night after I found out, because I couldn’t sit on it. They’ve been great partners. They really have. They’ve been very supportive. Colbert's show isn't the only late-night talk show to be mixed up in the current political administration. Jimmy Kimmel Live! was briefly taken off the air after the host's controversial comments about the assassination of Charlie Kirk and made erroneous claims about shooter Tyler James Robinson. His show remains on-air at ABC after having been pulled for a week. All publicly available information indicates The Late Show was canceled for financial reasons. However, the timing of its cancelation coupled with Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison's positive relationship with Trump makes it easy for rumors to spread. Colbert, however, doesn't want to speculate, citing the many months ahead he has on the network producing more episodes of the show.
