Senator Elizabeth Warren is questioning whether CBS’s decision to cancel ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ was a politically motivated one.
The Massachusetts Democrat took to X to float the idea that the move was likely linked to Paramount Global’s merger with Skydance Media on Thursday. The deal requires regulatory approval from the Trump administration.
Colbert, 61, is one the most prominent of critics of the conservative, even amongst a crowded field of left-leaning late night hosts.
Colbert, in fact, is at the top of that heap ratings-wise. He also took a swipe at his Paramount bosses on-air for accepting what he presented as a ‘big fat bribe’ from the president Monday.
The parties reached a $16 million settlement in a suit filed by Trump earlier this month. That is only slightly more than the $15 million Colbert is said to earn annually for his show.
The suit had accused Paramount, CBS, and its flagship show 60 Minutes of deceptively editing an interview with Kamala Harris weeks before the election. The decision to make a deal was widely seen as necessary to receiving FCC approval.
Warren, 76, wrote: ‘CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that looks like bribery.
‘America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.’
Senator Elizabeth Warren took to X Thursday to float the idea that CBS’s decision to do away with ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ‘ was part of Paramount Global’s recent settlement with the president. The progressive is pictured on Colbert’s show in February 2024
Warren, 76, wrote: ‘CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that looks like bribery,’ adding, ‘America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons’
In another post, Warren appeared to accuse Trump of ‘what looks like corruption in plain sight,’ rattling off a list of companies he’s squeezed settlements out of via what some have criticized as baseless, weaponized lawsuits.
‘Paramount/CBS: $16 MILLION; Meta: $22 MILLION; Disney/ABC: $15 MILLION; X: $10 MILLION,’ Warren wrote, also bringing up up the $400million luxury jet gifted to Trump earlier this year.
‘Other special interests: unknown MILLIONS; Total: Roughly half a BILLION dollars,’ she continued.
The post was published prior to the announcement revealing Colbert’s show will soon be cancelled.
Colbert – the successor to late night legend David Letterman – delivered the news on-air as well, three days after taking C-Suiters to task for their settlement with the president.
‘Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending The Late Show in May,’ he told his Thursday audience.
‘It’s not just the end of our show, but it’s the end of the Late Show on CBS.
‘I’m not being replaced, this is all just going away,’ he continued.
In another post, Warren appeared to accuse Trump of ‘corruption in plain sight,’ rattling off a list of companies – such as Paramount and Disney – that he’s received settlements from in what some have criticized as baseless, weaponized lawsuits
Colbert, 61, is one the most prominent of critics of the conservative, even amongst a crowded field of left-leaning late night hosts. He is the best rated of the pack
As the studio booed, Colbert said: ‘Yeah, I share your feelings.’
The show will air its last episode in May 2026.
On Monday, the comic wasted no time after returning from a week’s vacation to call CBS’s parent company out.
‘While I was on vacation, my parent corporation Paramount paid Donald Trump a $16 million settlement over his 60 Minutes lawsuit,’ he said, before laying out the saga.
‘As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I’m offended.
‘I don’t know if anything will ever repair my trust in this company.
But just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would help,’ he joked.
Colbert then explained how many legal experts, including Paramount’s own legal team, had said the lawsuit was ‘completely without merit.’
‘And keep in mind, Paramount produced Transformers: Rise of the Beasts – they know “completely without merit,”‘ Colbert quipped.
He brought up how, ‘unlike the payoffs from ABC and Twitter, Paramount’s settlement did not include an apology.
On Monday’s show, Colbert explained how many legal experts, including Paramount’s own legal team, had said the lawsuit was ‘completely without merit.’ He also laid out the entire saga surrounding Skydance and Paramount, accusing the latter of engaging in bribery
‘That’s good. Instead, the corporation released a statement where they said, “You may take our money, but you will never take our dignity,”‘ Colbert continued.
‘”You may, however, purchase our dignity for the low, low price of $16 million. We need the cash.”
‘I believe this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles: It’s big fat bribe.
‘Because this all comes as Paramount’s owners are trying to get the Trump administration to approve the sale of our network to a new owner, Skydance,’ he added.
Colbert then aired a similar theory to the one later presented by Morgan, before even knowing his show’s fate.
‘And some of the TV typers out there are blogging that once Skydance gets CBS, the new owner’s desire to please Trump could “put pressure on late night host and frequent Trump critic Stephen Colbert.”‘
‘Okay, but how are they going to put pressure on Stephen Colbert if they can’t find him?’, he added, motioning to a false moustache he had donned.
Colbert currently holds the top spot in his hour, with an average of 2.417 million across 41 first-run episodes.
Colbert still holds the top spot in his hour, with an average of 2.417 million across 41 first-run episodes. He took over as host in September 2015, after David Letterman launched the program in 1993
The Late Show was the only late night program to show an increase over the first quarter, according to new Nielsen numbers released this week, with the show up 1 percent.
Second-best Jimmy Kimmel Live! takes in an average of 1.772 million viewers, by comparison.
Colbert took over as host in September 2015, after Letterman launched the program in 1993.
