{"id":286999,"date":"2025-07-24T04:26:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T04:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/286999\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T04:26:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T04:26:12","slug":"save-colbert-rally-in-new-york-city-touts-petition-signed-by-250000-people-stephen-colbert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/286999\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Save Colbert\u2019 rally in New York City touts petition signed by 250,000 people | Stephen Colbert"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several dozen people on Wednesday took to the streets outside the Manhattan studio of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert<\/a> to call for CBS and its parent company, Paramount, to reverse the cancellation of the popular show.<\/p>\n

During the rally, which began at the historic Ed Sullivan Theater and wound its way to the Paramount headquarters in Times Square, demonstrators delivered 10 boxes filled with \u201cSave Colbert\u201d petitions to the company.<\/p>\n

In recent days, more than 250,000 people have signed. Among the supporters are multiple Democratic lawmakers including California\u2019s Ro Khanna and Ted Lieu, as well as The Daily Show\u2019s Aasif Mandvi<\/a>, comedian Kristen Schaal<\/a>, Veep executive producer David Mandel<\/a> and actor Frances Fisher<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The petition, led by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, condemned<\/a> Paramount\u2019s decision as \u201cblatantly political\u201d, adding: \u201cAmerica needs Stephen Colbert\u2019s voice now more than ever. Save the Late Show.\u201d<\/p>\n

PCCC\u2019s co-founder, Adam Green, said: \u201cThis is so much bigger than one TV show or even one network. This is about the distressing trend of people in institutions pre-emptively caving and complying to a White House that has shown it will abuse power.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf dissenting voices like Stephen Colbert\u2019s can be silenced, in addition to universities losing their leadership and law firms being co-opted, that is yet another step down the road to tyranny and authoritarianism,\u201d Green added.<\/p>\n

Protesters arrive at Paramount headquarters in Times Square on Wednesday. Photograph: Maya Yang\/GuardianThe boxes of petitions. Photograph: Maya Yang\/Guardian<\/p>\n

The widespread outrage in recent days follows Paramount\u2019s sudden decision to cancel the show, which came after Paramount settled what the Writers Guild of America condemned<\/a> as a \u201cbaseless lawsuit\u201d brought against 60 Minutes and CBS News by Donald Trump for $16m. Trump had claimed that CBS News misleadingly edited an interview with Kamala Harris<\/a> last fall during the presidential campaign.<\/p>\n

Following Paramount\u2019s settlement, Colbert \u2013 who has long been a critic of Trump on his show \u2013 called<\/a> Paramount\u2019s settlement a \u201cbig, fat bribe\u201d on air last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I am offended \u2026 I don\u2019t know if anything \u2013 anything \u2013 will repair my trust in this company. But, just taking a stab at it, I\u2019d say $16m would help,\u201d Colbert said.<\/p>\n

CBS executives said<\/a> that the decision to cancel the show was \u201cpurely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night\u201d, adding that it was \u201cnot related in any way to the show\u2019s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount\u201d.<\/p>\n

The public remains unconvinced. Outside the Ed Sullivan Theater on Wednesday afternoon, dozens of protesters including New York<\/a> lawmakers and former Paramount subscribers gathered in opposition.<\/p>\n

Many carried signs in protest against CBS<\/a> and Paramount, with some saying: \u201cDump Trump. Keep Colbert\u201d, \u201cThis is Complete Bull Shit\u201d and \u201cDon\u2019t Bow to the Orange King\u201d.<\/p>\n

Addressing the crowd, Susan Staal, a longtime viewer of the show, said: \u201cThis country needs dissenting voices. This country has comedians, secondary to journalists, who are now being infringed on free speech, the bedrock of this democracy \u2026 We know how bogus and sinister this decision actually was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Echoing similar sentiments, Heather Cousins, a former Paramount subscriber, called the show\u2019s cancellation a \u201cblatant act of bribery and against our constitutional rights of free speech\u201d, adding: \u201cParamount and CBS are destroying culture and history in New York City. The Late Show is a representation of hope in a time where our country has very little.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, at the Save Colbert rally on Wednesday. Photograph: Maya Yang\/Guardian<\/p>\n

Saima Akhter, a former Meta employee who said she was fired by the company last year over her anti-war activism on Palestine, also addressed the crowd, warning of growing attempts at censorship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a serious problem in this country of censorship of information, the silencing of people who speak out against fascist rules imposed by this government and the oligarchy, and the dangerous ties between fascist Trump, bought-out politicians and \u2026 corrupt corporations,\u201d Akhter said.<\/p>\n

She went on: \u201cThe control of narrative is the most powerful thing someone can possess \u2026 and at a time where things feel so crazy, we need voices like Colbert to be a voice of reason, to say it like it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Democratic lawmakers Tony Simone, a New York state assembly member, and New York City council member Erick Bottcher joined the protesters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to tell the institutions in our nation, from higher ed to the media to CBS: stop kissing Trump\u2019s ass \u2026 This [show] is a New York institution, an American institution,\u201d Simone said, adding: \u201cWe must save Colbert, we must have him back on air \u2026 When you come for one American, you come for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, Bottcher said: \u201cWe are not just standing in front of a theater. We are standing up for truth, for free press, for democracy, for free speech. The cancellation \u2026 isn\u2019t just a bad programming decision, it is a political decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bottcher continued: \u201cThis is about fear and pre-compliance infecting our institutions from the newsroom to the boardroom \u2026 According to CBS, it was a financial decision. We\u2019re not stupid \u2026 We see what\u2019s happening. We will not let a powerful media company silence a truth-teller to appease fascists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the speeches, protesters wound through the streets of Midtown Manhattan, chanting \u201cSave Colbert\u201d and \u201cFight back!\u201d Accompanying them was a tuba player and a drummer wearing a hat that said: \u201cMake Orwell fiction again\u201d, a nod to the Nineteen Eighty-Four author.<\/p>\n

Upon arriving outside the Paramount headquarters, the protesters were met with several security guards, as well as two New York police officers, who prevented them from entering the building.<\/p>\n

As protesters put the boxes of petitions outside the building entrance, one woman held up a sign.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly a butterfly should be a monarch,\u201d it read.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Several dozen people on Wednesday took to the streets outside the Manhattan studio of The Late Show With…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3937],"tags":[77,382,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-286999","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-tv","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114906318998167344","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}