CBS airs last ‘Late Show with Stephen Colbert’: Highlights, audience reaction and celebrity cameos

Jay Douglas, 79, said he was “never a big Colbert fan.”

But yesterday, he was standing outside the Ed Sullivan Theater wearing a “Late Show” T-shirt to voice his displeasure with show’s cancellation.

“For me, it’s a free speech issue,” he said. “And I don’t think that the Trump administration, or any administration, has the right to censor what we watch on television just because it irritates the president.”

Douglas said CBS just lost two viewers: him and his wife.

“I’m hoping across the country there are people who are going to watch tonight and say: ‘I have now watched my last show on CBS,'” he said.

Richie Vitale and Diane Rosen. Lauren Wilson / NBC News

Richie Vitale and Diane Rosen also showed their solidarity with Colbert standing outside the theater holding signs. Vitale held up a sign that read “Keep Colbert Fire Trump.”

Meanwhile, Rosen’s sign was a message addressed to Colbert. “Stephen,” it read, “When I found out you were cancelled, I was shocked! Then I got mad! Paramount Plus gave in to a corrupt President who cares little about the American People. Thank you for standing up to what’s right — our laws, truth, democracy. You will be missed.”

Ardith Collins, of New Jersey, held two signs. Because she came from work, she said, she got a box from a hotel around the corner to make them while she was outside.

“See BS,” read one, a play on the network’s name. “The privilege of silence is temporary,” read the other.