Stephen Colbert fires back at Trump's 'Late Show' diss
In his first show back on air since announcing that "The Late Show" will be canceled in May 2026, Colbert had a brief comeback ready for the president, who'd expressed in a July 18 Truth Social post that "I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings."
"How dare you, sir? Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism? Go (expletive) yourself," Colbert said in his July 21 "Late Show" monologue, per a clip shared on social media ahead of the episode's airing.
The three-word message was captured via an "eloquence cam" that was zoomed into the host's face.
As he waved off the crowd's chanting of his name, Colbert read the next sentence in Trump's social media post: "I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next."
Colbert replied, "Nope, absolutely not, Kimmel. I am the martyr. There's only room for one on this cross, and I've gotta tell you, the view is fantastic from up here. I can see your house!"
The rest of Trump's post had also called out Jimmy Fallon as the president wrote that Fox News' "Greg Gutfeld is better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show."
In his previous "Late Night" episode, Colbert dropped the cancellation bombshell on his fans, saying, "It's not just the end of our show; it's the end of the 'Late Show' on CBS." He'd added, "I'm not being replaced. This is all just going away."
In an ensuing statement, Paramount Global executives said, "We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire 'The Late Show' franchise at that time." The Paramount statement called the move "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show's performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount."
Paramount's decision came days after Colbert slammed Paramount for settling President Donald Trump's defamation lawsuit, calling the $16 million donation to Trump's future presidential library "a big fat bribe" to his administration that could help earn FCC approval for the company's $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media.
Contributing: Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY
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