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In a shocking move, CBS announced that it would cancel Late Night With Stephen Colbert in May 2026 and exit the late-night television business completely.
Colbert told his audience at Thursday’s taping:
Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending our show in May. It’s the end of ‘The Late Show’ on CBS. This is all just going away.
I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners. I’m so grateful to the Tiffany network for giving me this chair and this beautiful theater to call home. And of course, I’m grateful to you, the audience, who have joined us every night in here, out there, all around the world.
The news is not a complete shock as the Trump-allied Ellison brothers are taking over CBS, and one of their goals is to remove Trump critics from the network.
It was first speculated a few weeks ago that both Stephen Colbert at CBS and Jon Stewart at the now Ellison-owned The Daily Show could be pushed off the air. It was viewed to be less likely that Colbert would be canceled because the show is usually the highest rated in late night, and CBS spent decades struggling in late night until David Letterman moved over from NBC.
The Trump impact on media is very real. Since Trump returned to office, critics of his administration have been removed from mainstream media.
If Colbert wants to continue his late-night show, if the decision to pick him up was strictly about business, networks would be tripping over themselves to sign him.
Where Colbert ends up next should be viewed as a test of the media’s willingness to stand up to Trump.
If Stephen Colbert quickly finds a new high-profile home, it will be a hopeful sign. If not, the loss of Colbert will reflect the mainstream media’s complete cave to Trump.
