{"id":234136,"date":"2026-05-16T20:18:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T20:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/234136\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T20:18:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T20:18:29","slug":"stephen-colbert-mocks-cbs-news-tony-dokoupil-as-david-letterman-helps-toss-furniture-off-roof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/234136\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Colbert mocks CBS News, Tony Dokoupil as David Letterman helps toss furniture off roof"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Letterman marched back into the Ed Sullivan Theater on Thursday night and unloaded on CBS over its decision to cancel Stephen Colbert\u2019s late-night show \u2014 just moments after Colbert himself mocked the network\u2019s beleaguered news division on-air.<\/a><\/p>\n

The former \u201cLate Show\u201d host joined Colbert for a blistering segment that ridiculed CBS and its new ownership before the pair capped the appearance by tossing couches, office chairs, watermelons and a wedding cake off the roof of the landmark Manhattan theater.<\/p>\n

The stunt came the same day Colbert took another public swipe at CBS News during his monologue, joking about correspondent Tony Dokoupil being forced to cover President Trump\u2019s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping from neighboring Taiwan after failing to secure a visa for mainland China<\/a>.<\/p>\n

David Letterman returned to the Ed Sullivan Theater on Thursday night and joined Stephen Colbert in a rooftop stunt targeting CBS after the network canceled \u201cThe Late Show.\u201d Scott Kowalchyk \/CBS<\/p>\n

\u201cCBS News: when events happen we\u2019re at most one country<\/a> away,\u201d Colbert cracked during Thursday\u2019s broadcast, drawing laughs from the audience.<\/p>\n

Dokoupil had been expected to report from China during the summit but instead anchored remotely from Taiwan after a visa snafu, according to sources familiar with the situation.<\/p>\n

The rushed overseas setup reportedly contributed to a frightening incident involving veteran CBS cameraman Randy Schmidt, who allegedly collapsed from exhaustion while helping prepare the technically demanding remote operation, sources told The Post.<\/p>\n

Sources said Schmidt worked more than 24 straight hours helping assemble the Taiwan live-shot position before fainting.<\/p>\n

Colbert also took a dig at \u201cCBS Evening News\u201d anchor Tony Dokoupil, who broadcast from Taiwan after failing to get a visa to China to cover the Trump-Xi summit. CBS<\/p>\n

\u201cHe must have worked all hours getting it set up,\u201d one source told The Post.<\/p>\n

A source close to CBS News disputed claims Schmidt had been dangerously overworked, insisting the narrative circulating internally was exaggerated and that he had been supported by a broader production crew.<\/p>\n

Colbert and Letterman hurled couches and props off the Ed Sullivan Theater roof during a segment blasting CBS and Paramount. CBS<\/p>\n

Later Thursday night, Colbert turned his attention back to CBS itself when Letterman took the stage to thunderous applause.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, you know what happened backstage? I\u2019m standing backstage, a guy comes over, he says he\u2019s from CBS and he fires me,\u201d Letterman joked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is going on over there?!\u201d<\/p>\n

Letterman, who launched \u201cThe Late Show\u201d in 1993 and hosted it for more than two decades before Colbert took over, made clear he still harbored resentment over the network\u2019s handling of the franchise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have every right to be pissed off, so I\u2019ll be pissed off here a little bit,\u201d Letterman said.<\/p>\n

The segment soon turned into a stunt aimed squarely at CBS.<\/p>\n

The two took aim at CBS by aiming the furniture at a target that bore the network logo near the Ed Sullivan Theater in Midtown Manhattan on Thursday. CBS<\/p>\n

After Letterman asked whether the network owned the furniture on the set, crew members hauled couches and props to the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater, where they were hurled onto a giant CBS logo in what the pair described as the \u201cwanton destruction of CBS property.\u201d<\/p>\n

Letterman also sent Colbert\u2019s desk chair flying off the building.<\/p>\n

CBS\u2019 decision to cancel \u201cThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert\u201d after an 11-year run stunned the entertainment world and triggered accusations that Paramount Global was attempting to appease President Trump while finalizing its merger with Skydance Media.<\/p>\n

CBS has denied political motivations, insisting the cancellation was financial and claiming the program was losing roughly $40 million annually.<\/p>\n

Critics including Letterman and fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel have questioned that explanation, particularly given Paramount\u2019s efforts to secure regulatory approval for the Skydance deal.<\/p>\n

An office chair thrown from the roof crashes into the CBS Eye logo on the ground. CBS<\/p>\n

President Trump celebrated Colbert\u2019s cancellation on Truth Social, writing that he \u201cabsolutely love[d] that Colbert got fired\u201d while claiming the comedian had less \u201ctalent\u201d than his ratings.<\/p>\n

Letterman has repeatedly blasted CBS executives over the decision, previously calling the company\u2019s owners \u201clying weasels\u201d and suggesting the financial rationale behind Colbert\u2019s ouster was far from the full story.<\/p>\n

During Thursday\u2019s appearance, Letterman also reflected nostalgically on the Ed Sullivan Theater, which has housed \u201cThe Late Show\u201d franchise for more than 30 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis theater, you folks wouldn\u2019t be in this theater if it weren\u2019t for me, and Stephen wouldn\u2019t be here if it weren\u2019t for me,\u201d Letterman said.<\/p>\n

He later lamented that Colbert\u2019s run had \u201ccome to a screeching halt by other hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colbert also threw a wedding cake off the roof as Letterman looked on. Scott Kowalchyk \/CBS<\/p>\n

Former Paramount chair Shari Redstone has defended the cancellation, insisting late-night television is no longer \u201cfinancially not viable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Stephen. He does a great job, but we really needed to be in a financially valuable business,\u201d Redstone said recently at Axios\u2019 Media Trends event in New York.<\/p>\n

Letterman returned to his old \u201cLate Show\u201d home and unloaded on CBS over the network\u2019s decision to cancel Stephen Colbert\u2019s program. Scott Kowalchyk \/CBS<\/p>\n

Colbert\u2019s final episode is scheduled to air Thursday, May 21.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"David Letterman marched back into the Ed Sullivan Theater on Thursday night and unloaded on CBS over its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,288,1871,28045,91741,28047,91742,32396,91743,1208,9,24,63,3005,25773],"class_list":["post-234136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-business","tag-cbs","tag-david-ellison","tag-david-letterman","tag-larry-ellison","tag-late-show-with-david-letterman","tag-late-show-with-stephen-colbert","tag-letterman","tag-media","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-paramount","tag-stephen-colbert"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}