U.K. journalist Piers Morgan believes late-night TV in the United States has shifted from comedy to “partisan political activism.”
In an X post on Sunday, the media personality shared a New York Post cover story with the headline “The Left Show with Stephen Colbert” that cited a study that claimed the late-night program has featured 176 left-leaning guests and only one Republican since 2022.
“This is so damning,” Morgan wrote. “Most of America’s biggest late-night hosts have become nothing more than hyper-partisan activist hacks for the Democrats — a party that’s rarely been more unpopular. No wonder Colbert got canned. More will follow.”
Stephen Colbert on ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’.
Scott Kowalchyk/CBS
The 60-year-old television presenter faced pushback from other political commentators online like Brian Tyler Cohen, who wrote that it was “incredibly disappointing” to see Morgan claim “that the president can use his power to dictate what his critics can or cannot say on television.”
Morgan responded, “Trump didn’t cancel Colbert… he cancelled himself with poor ratings, huge costs, and boring viewers with anti-Trump bias.”
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CBS announced earlier this month that the Late Show franchise will end after more than three decades in May 2026, with Colbert serving as its final host. Although the network said the cancellation was “purely a financial” decision, critics have questioned if the then-pending merger of CBS parent company Paramount Global to Skydance Media, which required the approval of the Trump administration, played a part. The FCC approved the merger on July 24, eight days after Colbert announced the cancellation on the show.
President Donald Trump celebrated the Late Show’s ending on social media, writing that “I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired” and that the host’s “talent was even less than his ratings.” He later claimed that Jimmy Kimmel, host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Jimmy Fallon of The Tonight Show would be the “next to go,” and that he hoped he “played a major part” in their dismissal.
Trump’s appointed FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, has also trolled Democrats over The Late Show’s cancellation and talked about potential “consequences” for The View after cohost Joy Behar poked fun at the president.
In a subsequent X post, Morgan also blasted Last Week Tonight host John Oliver’s recent 60 Minutes interview, during which the comedian addressed his choice to encourage viewers to vote for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
“UPDATE: Just watched a drooling @60Minutes segment tonight about John Oliver who was proud of telling his viewers not to vote for Trump at last election,” Morgan wrote. “He told them to vote for Kamala Harris instead. That’s not comedy, it’s partisan political activism.”
When another individual called him out for supporting Trump in the 2016 and 2024 elections, Morgan replied, “I never told Americans how to vote… I just predicted Trump would win those elections.”
He also voiced his support for Jay Leno’s recent remarks about how late-night hosts “alienate” their audiences with their political jokes, writing, “He’s so right.”
The former Tonight Show host explained in a recent interview with The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation that while he loved political humor, “people wind up cozying too much to one side or the other” these days.
“I don’t think anybody wants to hear a lecture,” Leno said. “Why shoot for just half an audience? Why not try to get the whole? I like to bring people into the big picture. I don’t understand why you would alienate one particular group. Or just don’t do it at all. I’m not saying you have to throw your support [on one side]. But just do what’s funny.”