Seriously? OMG! WTF?

Stephen Colbert started his show off tonight with a shocking announcement: CBS has decided to cancel The Late Show and not replace it at the end of next season when it ends.

George Cheeks, Co-CEO Paramount Global and President and Chief Executive Officer, CBS, Amy Reisenbach, President, CBS Entertainment, and David Staph, President, CBS Studios said in a statement: “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.

“Our admiration, affection, and respect for the talents of Stephen Colbert and his incredible team made this agonizing decision even more difficult. Stephen has taken CBS late night by storm with cutting-edge comedy, a must-watch monologue and interviews with leaders in entertainment, politics, news and newsmakers across all areas. The show has been #1 in late night for nine straight seasons; Stephen’s comedy resonates daily across digital and social media; and the broadcast is a staple of the nation’s zeitgeist.”

However, people are questioning whether they are truly doing it for financial reasons. Colbert has been very vocal about his contempt for the current president, and the president recently won a multimillion-dollar settlement from CBS over an interview on 60 Minutes with Kamala Harris. Therefore, it seems that politics might have played a role.

I think it is a little of both. Late-night television is slowly dying, even Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers have said that.

Plus, CBS got to test the waters of not having a show on 12:35a when James Corden left The Late Late Show in 2023. They tried to replace it with After Midnight, but after two seasons, Taylor Tomlinson decided to exit the show, and the network pulled the plug. They are replacing that show with a Byron Allen show that has already been produced. So they have gotten to see how much money they could save without them producing a show to fill the hour.

We also know that Paramount, CBS’s parent company, is struggling to survive, which is why they are hoping to sell it to Skydance Media. They just need the FCC’s approval, and a Trumper is running the federal agency.

Is the cancellation something that might’ve been part of the settlement? We don’t know. But if I were Colbert, I would take the gloves off and go after the president and his administration like he never has before. What is CBS going to do, fire him? They already did that.

The Late Show debuted in 1993 with David Letterman as the host. He retired in 2015, and Colbert has been doing the job since.