On his penultimate show Wednesday, Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver joined Colbert<\/p>\n
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Published May 21, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 4\u00a0hours ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 4 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n As his late-night show comes to an end this week, Stephen Colbert is opening up on the cancellation and saying it might have \u201csaved\u201d his life.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authors<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n After a decade on the air, CBS announced last July that it was pulling the plug on the Emmy-winning Late Show With Stephen Colbert. The network said it was due to budgetary constraints, with reports claiming the program was losing $40 million a year.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n But the decision came after Colbert criticized a settlement between U.S. President Donald Trump and Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris that was deceptively edited. Colbert called the $16-million payout a \u201cbig fat bribe.\u201d Paramount was in the midst of trying to acquire Skydance \u2014 a deal that required the Trump administration\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n Trump mocked the 62-year-old comedian \u2014 who gained fame by playing a fictitious version of himself on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart before getting his own spinoff, The Colbert Report\u2014 when he announced the news.<\/p>\n \u201cI absolutely love that Colbert got fired<\/a>,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social<\/a> after Colbert told his audience inside the Ed Sullivan Broadway theatre that Late Night was over.<\/p>\n Your Midday Sun<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Once his termination was made official, Colbert continued to mercilessly mock the president on an almost nightly basis.<\/p>\n What Colbert says of the cancellation<\/p>\n Colbert says he was resting on a couch with a sock over his eyes when his manager told him his show was ending.<\/p>\n \u201cI sat up, and I said, \u2018I\u2019m sorry, I\u2019m awake. Could you say that one more time?’\u201d Colbert recalls in a new interview with PEOPLE<\/a>.<\/p>\n After taking over from David Letterman in 2015, Colbert says his aim was to be grateful everyday.<\/p>\n \u201cI tried never to take for granted filming in the Ed Sullivan Broadway Theater, having that tremendous audience, or having the ability to work with the funniest people I know every day and make jokes about the things that make me most anxious,\u201d he tells the outlet.<\/p>\n But nine months after his cancellation was made official, he thinks CBS\u2019 decision might have \u201csaved my life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt takes a lot of bone marrow to do the show every day, and now I\u2019ll be stepping down with enough time, enough energy to do other things that I want to do,\u201d says the father of three.<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Aside from writing a new Lord of the Rings movie<\/a> with his son, Peter, Colbert doesn\u2019t have any future gigs lined up.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s so much to think about to do the show. So I don\u2019t have much better of an answer than most college seniors do, which is I\u2019ve got to finish this first, because it takes almost the entirety of my brain to do this show. So we\u2019ll land this plane and we\u2019ll check out the view from there,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n In a separate interview with The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>, Colbert disputed Paramount\u2019s claim that Late Night was a money loser, but says he wasn\u2019t going to ask the company for proof he wasn\u2019t making them \u201cthe green stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to ask them to open books. I\u2019m not here to talk anybody into me,\u201d he says. \u201cI do not wish to litigate it. It\u2019s their shop, and they can do what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n Colbert does worry about the state of late-night, saying that \u201cthere\u2019s no denying that the broadcast model is in huge trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n But he exits hoping he made the people at home laugh every night.<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cI want to be remembered as a comedy show. We harvest laughter for a living, and ultimately that\u2019s the thing I want more than anything else. I just want to make the audience laugh,\u201d he tells THR<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bruce Springsteen says Trump \u2018can\u2019t take a joke\u2019<\/p>\n On his penultimate show Wednesday night, Bruce Springsteen joined Colbert one final time and lashed out at the president from inside the Ed Sullivan Theater.<\/p>\n \u201cI am here in support tonight for Stephen because you\u2019re the first guy in America who lost his show because we\u2019ve got a president who can\u2019t take a joke,\u201d Springsteen said<\/a>. \u201cAnd because (Skydance\u2019s) Larry and David Ellison feel they need to kiss his ass to get what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n Colbert was also joined by fellow late night hosts Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver, who paid tribute this month.<\/p>\n Kimmel announced that his show would go dark on Thursday \u201cout of respect for our colleague and friend, Stephen Colbert.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump called on CBS to end Colbert\u2019s show earlier, writing on Truth Social last Christmas that Late Night should be \u201cput to sleep<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the president said he\u2019ll weigh in on Colbert\u2019s departure at a later time.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll have a message at a later date,\u201d Trump told reporters<\/a> on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews.<\/p>\n The series finale of The Late Show airs tonight on CBS.<\/p>\n mdaniell@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n David Letterman sounds off on CBS dropping Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’<\/p>\n <\/a> Donald Trump urges CBS to put Stephen Colbert ‘to sleep’ for Christmas<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2276758386_303267676-e1779368217563.jpg\")
“The Late Show” frontman Stephen Colbert will host the final edition of the 33-year-old program on May 21, 2026, after it was cancelled by CBS as the network courted President Donald Trump. Photo by MICHAEL TRAN \/AFP via Getty ImagesArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Toronto](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/21.2.1\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-tsun.svg\"){kind=logo}
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Comedian Stephen Colbert arrives for the 74th Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sept. 12, 2022. Photo by ROBYN BECK \/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7558279_285836182-e1776177338497.jpg\")
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