{"id":32467,"date":"2025-07-30T13:02:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T13:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/32467\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T13:02:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T13:02:09","slug":"trump-denies-responsibility-in-stephen-colberts-late-show-firing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/32467\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump denies responsibility in Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ firing"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Stephen Colbert fires back at Paramount, Trump over ‘Late Show’ axing<\/p>\n

Stephen Colbert blasted Paramount and President Donald Trump after “Late Show” cancellation.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump<\/a>, while still celebrating the demise of his late-night TV foe “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert<\/a>,” is distancing himself as the reason for the show’s abrupt cancellation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Everybody is saying that I was solely responsible for the firing of Stephen Colbert from CBS, Late Night. That is not true!” he wrote in a July 29 Truth Social post<\/a>. The reason he was fired was a pure lack of TALENT, and the fact that this deficiency was costing CBS $50 Million Dollars a year in losses \u2014 and it was only going to get WORSE!”<\/p>\n

Colbert\u00a0announced on July 17<\/a>\u00a0that “The Late Show” would be ending in May after more than 30 years, with CBS parent company Paramount Global calling it “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.” A week later, following speculation by critics and outspoken celebrities<\/a> that this was a politically motivated move<\/a>, Paramount obtained FCC approval<\/a> for an $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media.<\/p>\n

While\u00a0“The Late Show” is the top rated<\/a>\u00a0in the 11:30 p.m. slot, it was losing a reported $40 million a year.<\/p>\n

The day after Colbert’s announcement, Trump celebrated the 30-year-old show’s cancellation, writing<\/a>, “I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.”<\/p>\n

‘Gutless’: David Letterman unleashes on Paramount over ‘Late Show’ cancellation<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump claims Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon are ‘next up’<\/p>\n

In his July 29 post, Trump once again put his other late-night adversaries, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon, on notice.<\/p>\n

“Next up will be an even less talented Jimmy Kimmel, and then, a weak, and very insecure, Jimmy Fallon. The only real question is, who will go first?” the former “The Apprentice” star wrote. “Show biz and television is a very simple business. If you get ratings, you can say or do anything. If you don\u2019t, you always become a victim. Colbert became a victim to himself, the other two will follow.”<\/p>\n

A week prior, he went after<\/a> “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” claiming<\/a> without evidence that they would be “next to go.”<\/p>\n

“It’s really good to see them go, and I hope I played a major part in it!” he added.<\/p>\n

Fallon’s\u00a0contract with NBCUniversal<\/a>\u00a0will keep him at the network through 2028. Kimmel\u00a0extended his contract<\/a>\u00a0in 2022 through his show’s current 23rd season.<\/p>\n

Kimmel quickly fired back on Instagram<\/a> by posting a screenshot of the president’s post alongside the caption, “I know you\u2019re busy Sharpie-ing the Epstein files, but this seems like a weird way to tell people to watch Matt Damon and Ken Jennings on an all-new Who Wants to Be a Millionaire tomorrow night at 8|7c on @ABC.”<\/p>\n