{"id":5543,"date":"2025-07-18T13:19:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T13:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/5543\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T13:19:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T13:19:08","slug":"the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-to-end-in-2026-as-cbs-cancels-show-stephen-colbert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/5543\/","title":{"rendered":"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to end in 2026 as CBS cancels show | Stephen Colbert"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert<\/a> has been cancelled and will end in May, with network CBS announcing it will retire the Late Show entirely after a 33-year run.<\/p>\n

The news comes just a few days after<\/a> Colbert criticised the network\u2019s parent company, Paramount, for settling a lawsuit with Donald Trump for $16m (\u00a312m) over the US president\u2019s claim that CBS News deceptively edited an interview with the then presidential candidate Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n

The settlement coincided with Paramount seeking approval from the US Federal Communications Commission for an $8.4bn merger with Skydance Media. Colbert called the settlement \u201ca big fat bribe\u201d.<\/p>\n

Colbert, who has hosted the talkshow since 2015, announced the news during Thursday night\u2019s <\/a>recording, telling the audience he had been told of the decision the previous night.<\/p>\n

As the audience booed, he said, \u201cYeah, I share your feelings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just the end of the show, it is the end of the Late Show on CBS<\/a>. I\u2019m not being replaced, this is all just going away,\u201d Colbert said.<\/p>\n

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He said he was \u201cgrateful\u201d to the viewers and the show\u2019s 200-strong crew.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me tell you, it is a fantastic job,\u201d he added. \u201cI wish someone else was getting it. And it is a job I am looking forward to doing with this usual gang of idiots for another 10 months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colbert took over on the Late Show from the veteran host David Letterman, who hosted the show for 22 years, from 1993 to 2015. The show has had consistently high ratings in its slot and is often the highest-rated show in late-night.<\/p>\n

CBS\u2019s parent company, Paramount Global, is attempting to close the merger with Skydance after the deal fell apart last year. Paramount\u2019s owners have been pushing the Trump administration to approve the sale of CBS to Skydance.<\/p>\n

Colbert, speaking about the lawsuit settlement with Trump, said on Tuesday\u2019s episode<\/a> \u201cParamount knows they could have fought it\u201d, because the company itself had called the lawsuit \u201ccompletely without merit\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd keep in mind, Paramount produced Transformers: Rise of the Beast \u2013 they know completely without merit,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n

Senator Adam Schiff, a Democrat who appeared as a guest on Thursday night\u2019s show, later wrote on social media<\/a>: \u201cIf Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has called for an investigation into Paramount Global\u2019s relationship with Trump<\/a> over the Skydance merger, wrote: \u201cCBS canceled Colbert\u2019s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount \u2026 America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

George Cheeks, co-CEO of Paramount Global and president and CEO of CBS; Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment; and David Stapf, president of CBS Studios, issued a joint statement saying the Late Show would \u201cend its historic run in May 2026 at the end of the broadcast season\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire The Late Show franchise at that time. We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late-night television,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

The statement added that the cancellation was \u201cpurely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not related in any way to the show\u2019s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount,\u201d the network added.<\/p>\n