Culture CBS is ending ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ next year

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/17/media/cbs-cancels-stephen-colbert

https://archive.ph/UAA9U

https://lite.cnn.com/2025/07/17/media/cbs-cancels-stephen-colbert

By Brian Stelter and Dan Heching, CNN
Thu July 17, 2025

In a shocking move, CBS is ending “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” next year, potentially exiting the late-night television business altogether.

The cancellation will take effect in May 2026, the normal end of the broadcast TV season, the network said.

The Thursday night announcement came just two weeks after the parent company of CBS, Paramount, settled a lawsuit lodged by President Trump against CBS News.

The settlement – and Paramount’s pending merger with Skydance Media – spurred speculation about Colbert’s future at CBS. Colbert, after all, is one of the staunchest critics of Trump on television.

CBS, however, said in a statement that “this is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”

Colbert shared the news at his show taping on Thursday afternoon.

“Next year will be our last season,” Colbert said as audible ‘boos’ were heard in the live studio audience. “The network will be ending our show in May,” he said. “It’s the end of ‘The Late Show’ on CBS,” he added, going on to say, “This is all just going away.”

This is a developing story. It will be updated.

 

[TowinKarz]

Jimmy Kimmel is even worse in my opinion and he's been in quasi-hiatutis for a long time now. That dude needs to go. Get rid of John Stewart too. Who would've thought out of all these guys Bill Maher would end up being the most 'reasonable' in the end.

Actually? I'd say Maher being the last man standing was predictable, he's the only one who'd (however lukewarmly and temporarily) call out his own side and never resorted to props or trying and failing at memes, he actually looks and sounds today (to me at least) exactly like he did in the 90's..... his show is a living time capsule of what "lefty intellectual" TV used to look like as opposed to the garbage heap of TDS it is today.

 

[Rudolf's Friend]

He’s just going to end up getting a show on Netflix.

Would love to see how bad it does if that happens.

 

[Diana Moon Glampers]

So bad they killed the whole show.

They knew libs would boycott whoever took over. I expect that they'll bring it back in a year with a new host, once it's a little clearer what direction the political winds are blowing in. Things right now are a little uncertain.

 

[Not A Bunny]

Yep, they're doing worse, and Gutfeld is leading in Q2 2025:

I am absolutely loving the fact that reality is shaping up to have a conservative bias.

 

[Billy_Sama!]

I enjoyed Stephen Colbert on the Daily Show and Harvey Birdman but my god Democrats and TDS just made him insufferable.

 

[Hooked on phobics]

Steven colbert WAS funny a long ass time ago, when he was going on about bears being the greatest threat to america, but he fell off HARD.

Good riddance

 

[The Doom Slayer]

Bye faggot.

 

[Cheesegirl78]

Does anyone still watch the late night shows? Genuinely asking. Not surprised he got axed, since his show is full of unwatchable woke bullshit.

Not in years. Johnny Carson, David Letterman, and Jay Leno were funny, and told jokes about everyone.
Colbert and the rest suck.

 

[FlappyBat]

They survived all of the Biden years and end right at the start of what should have been a feast of outrage at the Trump administration?

 

[Duke-Diggler]

Looks like the USAID money dried up. Good riddance.

 

[cleanerfromvenus]

Who will be the next host? Hopefully not someone insufferable that already has a host show. Got some big shoes to fill since dave.

 

[TowinKarz]

They survived all of the Biden years and end right at the start of what should have been a feast of outrage at the Trump administration?

There's a reason their departure coincides with the Dems polling at 19% approval nationally.....

 

[Mister Mint]

Way to kill David Letterman's legacy.

you know, in all these years, I genuinely forgot this is the same Late Show that David Letterman hosted because it seems so divorced from that era.

 

[Rudolf's Friend]

It's amazing how just a decade ago Colbert was getting cancelled by twitter because of a tweet that his promotional Twitter account that he didn't run reposted a joke aimed at mocking the Washington Redskins.

I think this was where he became Skibidi Biden Two Scoops Drumpfler, because he tried to call out the people trying to cancel him, but the issue was he was doing it in character so we couldn't see who the actual Stephen Colbert was. Then a few months later or so he has an interview with Anita Sarkeesian.

 

[Literal Shitbag]

Who will be the next host? Hopefully not someone insufferable that already has a host show. Got some big shoes to fill since dave.

As it stands now, the "Late Show" franchise itself is ending. Who knows if another will come after this.

 

[The Mass Shooter Ron Soye]

Who will be the next host? Hopefully not someone insufferable that already has a host show. Got some big shoes to fill since dave.

Check it out yo:

“It’s the end of ‘The Late Show’ on CBS,” he added, going on to say, “This is all just going away.”

Lasted from 1993 (David Letterman) to 2026.

 

[Mr. Ghoul]

It's crazy to think that people like Colbert, Neil Degrass Tyson and Bill Nye. were basically Internet royalty in the early 2010s. And now, well... you know...

 

[Lovely Kin]

So bad they killed the whole show.

Wasn't put down soon enough,

 

[Blewberry Nausea]

An unexpected surprise and a welcomed one.
If he's going, there's no way the others are holding up any better.

EDIT:

Yep, they're doing worse, and Gutfeld is leading in Q2 2025:

View attachment 7657220
Source: TV Insider

Christ, these are shows that used to pull in millions more. They’d be the talk of the next day.

 

[Qonas]

Jay Leno was funny

Debatable.