Last good night set for Late Show and Colbert
Stephen Colbert says the Late Show franchise is 'all just going away'. File photo: Reuters
Stephen Colbert's "The Late Show", long a staple of late-night television, will come to an end in 2026, the comedian and network CBS said.
"Next year will be our last season," the host announced on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" to boos and shouts of disbelief. "The network will be ending the show in May."
CBS called the cancellation "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night," and said in a statement the move was "not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at [parent company] Paramount."
Paramount, CBS's parent company, reached a US$16 million settlement with President Donald Trump this month in a lawsuit the entertainment giant described as meritless.
The company is seeking to close its US$8 billion merger with the entertainment company Skydance, which needs federal government approval.
Trump had sued Paramount for US$20 billion, alleging that CBS News' "60 Minutes" program deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival, Kamala Harris, in her favour.
Colbert, an outspoken critic of Trump, described the settlement as "a big fat bribe" on his show this week.
He said on Thursday the cancellation was not just the end of his show but the end of "The Late Show" franchise on CBS.
"I'm not being replaced. This is all just going away," he said.
However, Trump's political opponents and other critics drew attention to the timing of the decision.
"CBS canceled Colbert's show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that looks like bribery," Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren said on social media platform X.
"America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons," Warren said.
Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, who was on Colbert's show the night he announced it would be ending, said: "If Paramount and CBS ended the 'Late Show' for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better."
CBS said in its Thursday statement it was "proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television." (AFP)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
22 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
Trump administration issues plan to limit AI exports to China
The White House on Wednesday released proposals to restrict exports of American AI equipment and limit the spread of Chinese AI models as part of a sweeping plan to shape the rules governing the fast-moving technology. The 28-page AI Action Plan marks US President Donald Trump's administration's first comprehensive strategy on the topic and comes as national security hawks have raised concerns that superior American chips may reach China – including through third countries – and advance its AI and military development. Under the plan, the US Commerce Department will lead an effort to develop new export controls on chipmaking subsystems to close 'loopholes' in current restrictions that now focus on major systems. The department will also lead efforts to increase the monitoring of exported US chip end users and to explore using new chip location verification features to keep them out of 'countries of concern' – a term often used to refer to China, Iran, North Korea and Russia, among others. The plan also directs the Defence and Commerce departments to coordinate with allies on adopting US export controls and to prohibit American adversaries from being involved in their defence supply chains. 'Artificial intelligence is a revolutionary technology with the potential to transform the global economy and alter the balance of power in the world,' White House AI tsar David Sacks said in a written statement.
South China Morning Post
6 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Trump's unpopularity rises among Asian-Americans, Pacific Islanders, poll finds
A small but fast-growing group in the United States has soured somewhat on President Donald Trump this year, as they worry about high costs and fear that new tariff policies will further raise their personal expenses, a new poll finds. The percentage of Asian-American, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders with an unfavourable opinion of Trump rose to 71 per cent in July, from 60 per cent in December, according to a national survey by AAPI Data and the Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research. Notably, AAPI adults who describe themselves as independent are especially likely to have cooled on the president. About 7 in 10 AAPI independents have a 'very' or 'somewhat' unfavourable opinion of Trump, up roughly 20 percentage points since December. The poll is part of an ongoing project exploring the views of Asian-American, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, whose views are usually not highlighted in other surveys because of small sample sizes and lack of linguistic representation. AAPI independents' unfavourable view of Trump is higher than his unfavourable rating among independent adults overall, which was 52 per cent in a June AP-NORC poll, having nudged slightly higher from 44 per cent in December. Economic concerns could be playing a central role. About 8 in 10 AAPI adults expect Trump's tariff policies will increase the cost of consumer goods, the poll found, while only about 4 in 10 think those policies will boost domestic manufacturing and just 2 in 10 anticipate more US jobs as a result.
South China Morning Post
7 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Is Philippines getting short end of US tariff stick? 19% rate slammed as ‘worst insult'
A new trade deal hailed by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr as a 'significant achievement' has been slammed by critics at home as the 'worst insult' after Manila secured only a one percentage point tariff cut from Washington while granting American goods duty-free access. Marcos, the first Southeast Asian leader to be hosted by President Donald Trump since his return to the White House, visited the US capital from Sunday to Tuesday for a series of talks centred on trade and security. The trip came as Manila sought to defuse tensions over Trump's sweeping 'Liberation Day' tariff policy, which had initially imposed a 17 per cent duty on Philippine exports in April before increasing it to 20 per cent earlier this month. The outcome – a 19 per cent tariff rate on Philippine goods alongside zero tariffs for US exports – was unveiled by Trump on his Truth Social account after holding a joint press conference at the White House. Marcos defended the result, insisting the concession was more significant than it appeared.
