Stephen Colbert addressed the unexpected cancellation of The Late Show earlier this year, declining to say whether he thinks CBS axed the show due to political pressure from the Trump administration, but saying otherwise: “It’s a reasonable thing to think.”
The new GQ cover story marks one of his first major press interviews since CBS canceled The Late Show in July. While the network cited financial issues, there was much speculation about political pressure as CBS’ parent company, Paramount, was then looking to complete a merger with Skydance Media that needed government approval (which it eventually received). Colbert, of course, spent years skewering Trump on The Late Show and, just two days before his cancellation, joked that there was a “technical name in legal circles” for CBS’ controversial $16 million settlement with Trump over a dubious defamation suit: “Big fat bribe.”
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Asked about the sequence of events and the ultimate decision, Colbert remained pointedly diplomatic, though definitely still blunt: “My reaction as a professional in show business is to go: That is the network’s decision.”
Still, Colbert didn’t shy from validating those who tied the cancellation to political pressure. “I can understand why people would have that reaction because CBS or the parent corporation — I’m not going to say who made that decision, because I don’t know; no one’s ever going to tell us — decided to cut a check for $16 million to the president of the United States over a lawsuit that their own lawyers, Paramount’s own lawyers, said is completely without merit,” he said. “And it is self-evident that that is damaging to the reputation of the network, the corporation, and the news division. So it is unclear to me why anyone would do that other than to curry favor with a single individual. If people have theories that associate me with that, it’s a reasonable thing to think, because CBS or the corporation clearly did it once.”
Colbert went on to explain, somewhat, why he was choosing his words so carefully. He still has several months left at the helm of The Late Show (it’s scheduled to end in May 2026), and he naturally seemed averse to muddying his relationship with CBS, which he otherwise described as “great.”
But, Colbert added, that’s exactly why the network’s decision was so “shocking,” especially after the show had looked at its budgets and made cuts to it. All the while remaining the number one show in late-night.
“I’m in show business. I want to do a good job for the network, and I’m really proud that we could do that for them,” he said. “And that only made our relationship better. Why do you want to be number one? To brag? No … The best reason to be number one is that the network does not fuck with you. That is the best reason to be number one. And we enjoyed nine unfucked years.”
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