CBS is canceling \u201cThe Late Show With Stephen Colbert\u201d next May, shuttering a decades-old TV institution in a changing media landscape and removing from air one of President Donald Trump\u2019s most prominent and persistent late-night critics. <\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s announcement followed Colbert\u2019s criticism on Monday<\/a> of a settlement between Trump and Paramount Global<\/a>, parent company of CBS, over a \u201c60 Minutes\u201d story.<\/p>\n Colbert told his audience at New York\u2019s Ed Sullivan Theater that he had learned Wednesday night that after a decade on air, \u201cnext year will be our last season. … It\u2019s the end of \u2018The Late Show\u2019 on CBS. I\u2019m not being replaced. This is all just going away.\u201d<\/p>\n The audience responded with boos and groans. <\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I share your feelings,\u201d the 61-year-old comic said.<\/p>\n Three top Paramount and CBS executives praised Colbert\u2019s show as \u201ca staple of the nation\u2019s zeitgeist\u201d in a statement that said the cancellation \u201cis purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show\u2019s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.\u201d<\/p>\n In his Monday monologue, Colbert said he was \u201coffended\u201d by the $16 million settlement reached by Paramount, whose pending sale to Skydance Media needs the Trump administration\u2019s approval. He said the technical name in legal circles for the deal was \u201cbig fat bribe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if anything \u2014 anything \u2014 will repair my trust in this company,\u201d Colbert said. \u201cBut, just taking a stab at it, I\u2019d say $16 million would help.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump had sued Paramount Global over how \u201c60 Minutes\u201d edited its interview last fall with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Critics say the company settled primarily to clear a hurdle to the Skydance sale.<\/p>\n Colbert took over \u201cThe Late Show\u201d in 2015 after becoming a big name in comedy and news satire working with Jon Stewart on \u201cThe Daily Show\u201d and hosting \u201cThe Colbert Report,\u201d which riffed on right-wing talk shows. <\/p>\n The most recent ratings from Nielsen show Colbert gaining viewers so far this year and winning his timeslot among broadcasters, with about 2.417 million viewers across 41 new episodes. On Tuesday, Colbert\u2019s \u201cLate Show\u201d landed its sixth nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding talk show. It won a Peabody Award in 2021.<\/p>\n David Letterman began hosting \u201cThe Late Show\u201d in 1993. When Colbert took over, he deepened its engagement with politics. Alongside musicians and movie stars, Colbert often welcomes politicians to his couch.<\/p>\n