The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs on CBS, whose parent company, Global, is in the midst of a merger with Skydance. The reported $8 billion deal was delayed by a la

Paramount announced last week that “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” would be ending in May 2026. While the company claimed the move was a purely “financial decision,” speculation has swirled over whether Colbert’s sharp criticism of Trump had anything to do with his ouster as Paramount looked to get its merger approved.

Since then, Colbert has been ripping into Donald Trump with renewed relish, often while also flaying CBS and its parent company, Paramount. By doubling down on attacking his most powerful enemy, at a time when network execs are facing such intense scrutiny for what many believe was a politically motivated firing,

Kicking off Monday’s show with a joke about Trump wanting to change the name of the Washington Commanders NFL team (the “Washington Epsteins,” Colbert suggested), he walked into the Ed Sullivan Theater to loud cheers and said “This is going to be fun.” It certainly was.

It’s a line of criticism we’ve now heard a few times from various Paramount employees. In April, months before the final settlement amount was reached, 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley laid bare the stakes of the deal,

Sandra Oh stirred controversy with her dramatic reaction to "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" cancellation in the latest episode.

Supporters of Stephen Colbert took to the streets of New York City following the cancellation of The Late Show. The demonstrators gathered outside the Ed Sullivan Theater and marched to Paramount’s Times Square headquarters.

Dokoupil broke with his co‑hosts on Tuesday to blame Colbert’s “one-sided” commentary for his own cancellation.