Each episode of \u201cThe Late Show With Stephen Colbert\u201d over the past few weeks has offered a fresh reminder that the final one is rapidly approaching.<\/p>\n
Oprah Winfrey swung by to tell Mr. Colbert that she needed to \u201csay goodbye.\u201d Jake Tapper came armed with a farewell gift. Billy Crystal sang him a song. The audience ovations are getting louder and louder.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe feelings of the show ending are growing significantly now,\u201d Mr. Colbert said.<\/p>\n
Mr. Colbert\u2019s observation was part of wide-ranging interview last week in his office above the Ed Sullivan Theater on Broadway. Appearing both relaxed (he was barefoot) but also a bit restless (he occasionally fidgeted with an old-school football helmet), he reflected on the coming end of \u201cThe Late Show\u201d on May 21, as well as his two-decade career as a late-night host. He also spoke about how his show had become so topical, President Trump and what he might do next.<\/p>\n
He could be, as he put it, \u201clong-winded\u201d at times. Indeed. For one question, he gave an answer that lasted, with limited interruption, for 18 minutes.<\/p>\n
Of course, it was not Mr. Colbert\u2019s decision to end \u201cThe Late Show.\u201d CBS announced last summer that the network would cancel the show<\/a> after this season, its 11th, for financial reasons; it was soon widely reported that \u201cThe Late Show\u201d was losing tens of millions of dollars<\/a> a year. Advertising revenue for all late-night shows has plummeted in recent years<\/a>, and the number of shows has also fallen.<\/p>\n Still, many have been skeptical of CBS\u2019s explanation. At the time, Paramount, CBS\u2019s parent company, was closing a multibillion-dollar merger with the movie studio Skydance, a deal that required the Trump administration\u2019s approval. Two weeks before the cancellation was announced, Paramount agreed to pay Mr. Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit over an interview on CBS\u2019s \u201c60 Minutes,\u201d a suit that many lawyers described as meritless. Mr. Colbert had been a sharp critic of Mr. Trump for over a decade.<\/p>\n Mr. Colbert said the cancellation had surprised him, though he has made light of it, too.<\/p>\n Here are excerpts from the interview, edited and condensed for length and clarity.<\/p>\n The Cancellation<\/p>\n One of the reasons Mr. Colbert found the cancellation surprising, he said, was that CBS encouraged him in 2023 to sign a long contract, as long as five years. He ultimately signed a three-year deal.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been nine months since you learned that you were canceled. CBS obviously claims that the show was canceled for financial reasons. Others are skeptical.<\/strong><\/p>\n I do not dispute their rationale. I do make jokes about it. But I also completely understand why people would say (A) that doesn\u2019t make sense to me and (B) that seems fishy to me, because the network did it to themselves by bending the knee to the Trump administration over a $20 billion, settled for $16 million, completely frivolous lawsuit.<\/p>\n It\u2019s possible that two things can be true. Broadcast can be in trouble. They cannot monetize because of things like YouTube, because of the competition of streaming. They\u2019ve got the books, and I do not have any desire to debate them over what they say their business model is and how it does not work for them anymore. But less than two years before they called to say it\u2019s over, they were very eager for me to be signed for a long time. So, something changed.<\/p>\n You said that you understand if people make the assumption that the cancellation was \u201cfishy.\u201d But where have you settled out on this?<\/strong><\/p>\n I believe two things can be true. I\u2019m not saying the two things are true. It behooves me not, it ain\u2019t \u201cbehoovy\u201d for me, to spend a lot of time thinking about that. I have zero desire to have a contentious relationship with my network. I\u2019ve really liked working with CBS. They\u2019ve been great partners. And I\u2019d like to end it that way. Eleven years is a long time to work here. And almost 10 years before that, almost 21 years altogether, in late night. I feel so much better to be \u201cgrateful for\u201d than to be \u201cmad about.\u201d<\/p>\n Becoming Topical<\/p>\n When Mr. Colbert took over \u201cThe Late Show\u201d from David Letterman in 2015, his plan was not to have a ruthlessly topical or political show. \u201cWe were discouraged by the network from being topical,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n It was my instinct to be less topical, because I didn\u2019t want to have to engage with what I saw was an increasingly contentious public discourse. And I thought, aren\u2019t there other ways to have fun with the audience?<\/p>\n But Mr. Colbert\u2019s opening five months on the show were rocky, and soon he started doing topical jokes. By the 2016 national party conventions, Mr. Colbert went all-in on news and biting criticism of Mr. Trump, and critics were suddenly writing rave reviews. Higher ratings followed.<\/p>\n The change worked, right?<\/strong><\/p>\n I was like Clint Eastwood in \u201cUnforgiven,\u201d or is it some other movie? He buried his guns. And I\u2019m like, you know, I buried those damn guns. I was talking to Paul Dinello \u2014 he\u2019s one of my oldest friends and one of my producers here \u2014 and he\u2019s like, \u201cYou\u2019re having fun, and people love to see that.\u201d And I said, \u201cBut that means I got to go dig up the guns.\u201d And he says, \u201cBuddy, that\u2019s the part the audience wants to see.\u201d<\/p>\n On the Trump Administration<\/p>\n