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Stephen Colbert took a direct shot at CBS and its parent company during a recent interview, claiming that Paramount's payment of $16 million to President Donald Trump to settle a “meritless” lawsuit against the network has damaged its reputation and news division. The late-night star – who is leaving the network after his show airs its final episode next May – said he couldn’t see why anyone would settle a frivolous complaint “other than to curry favor” with the president. During a wide-ranging conversation with GQ, published Monday, Colbert was asked about his top-rated show’s cancellation, announced just days after he publicly suggested that Paramount had paid a “big fat bribe” to Trump to approve its $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media. At the time, Paramount insisted that it was “purely a financial decision” to pull the plug on The Late Show, claiming late-night television had become unprofitable and that it had nothing to do with either the upcoming merger or Colbert’s fervently anti-Trump stance. Days after the cancellation was announced, which was cheered by Trump and his handpicked FCC chairman Brendan Carr, the administration approved Skydance’s purchase of Paramount. Colbert told GQ how CBS explained that “they’re getting out of the late-night space altogether because it’s no longer profitable for the network.” But he said that he still “found it very surprising” and felt that if his show couldn’t turn a profit, no late-night program could. As for whether he found the corporate explanation plausible, Colbert snarked that David Ellison – the new chairman of Paramount and son of billionaire Trump ally Larry Ellison – might have the solution for what ails network television these days. “Television’s in huge trouble. Maybe David Ellison [CEO of Paramount Skydance] will fix everything. No, no. Seriously. Maybe he will. Maybe he’ll fix everything,” he quipped. “But it’s clear that television is in a lot of transitions. It’s been going on for a long time. But that’s not my end of the business. My end of the business is the jokes.” After it was pointed out that his show was canceled just two days after he described the settlement as a potential bribe - and that a number of Democratic lawmakers have said the cancellation was “politically motivated” - Colbert said he “can understand why people would have that reaction” due to the payoff to Trump. Colbert concluded the only logical reason was to get on the president’s good side, noting that Paramount “decided to cut a check for $16 million” to Trump over a lawsuit that the network’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,” he added. “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.” On Sunday President Trump sat down with CBS News’ “60 Minutes”, one year after filing a lawsuit against the news program over its editing of a Kamala Harris interview, which he claimed caused him “mental anguish” due to “election interference.” During the nearly 90-minute sit-down with correspondent Norah O’Donnell, the president boasted that the network “paid me a lotta money” to settle the lawsuit while also complimenting Ellison, and new CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. “I see good things happening in the news. I really do,” Trump told O’Donnell. “And I think one of the best things to happen is this show and new ownership, CBS and new ownership. I think it’s the greatest thing that’s happened in a long time to a free and open and good press.” Those portions of the conversation, however, were edited out of Sunday’s TV broadcast and were only made available in the unedited transcript and extended video clip published online. A CBS News insider told The Independent that not including Trump’s comments about the settlement and network leadership during the telecast was “f***ing reckless,” since it was obvious that many viewers would want to see him address the lawsuit, at the very least. “Why would you subject yourself to this type of criticism? Just put it in, because it’s the first thing that I was looking for,” the insider added. Colbert’s latest jabs at Paramount and Ellison come a couple of weeks after he jokingly professed his “love” for the media mogul during his opening Late Show monologue. “I want to take a moment to celebrate my new boss, Paramount CEO David Ellison. Mr. Ellison, I love you,” Colbert gleefully declared. “That oughta buy us a couple more months.”
