
Stephen Colbert has incredibly blunt response to Donald Trump after Late Show axing
The 61-year-old Late Show host has responded after the President of the United States posted a gleeful reaction saying he "absolutely loves that Colbert got fired" after last week's announcement that the longrunning talk show - which was previously hosted by David Letterman - will end in May 2026 after over three decades on air.
Trump also claimed "his talent was even less than his ratings" on a post on Trust Social.
During his opening monologue on Monday's (21.07.25) episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, the host quipped: "How dare you, sir?
"Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism?'
An on-screen frame appeared captioned 'Eloquence Cam', as the presenter said: "Go f*** yourself."
Colbert also referenced Trump claiming "Jimmy Kimmel is next" to be fired.
He joked: "Nope, no, no. Absolutely not. Kimmel, I am the martyr.
"There's only room for one on this cross. And the view is fantastic from up here. I can see your house!'
Colbert insisted he will spend the last 10 months of his and the iconic show's tenure speaking "unvarnished truth to power".
He teased: "Folks, I'm gonna go ahead and say it: Cancel culture has gone to far. Over the weekend, it sunk in that they're killing off our show.
"But they made one mistake: They left me alive. And now, for the next 10 months, the gloves are off.
"I can finally speak unvarnished truth to power and say what I really think about Donald Trump, starting right now.
'I don't care for him. Doesn't have the skillset to be president. Not a good fit, that's all.'
Colbert did reiterate that CBS have "always been great partners", but questioned their statement claiming the decision to end the show was a "purely a financial decision" move.
He asked: "How could it be purely be a financial decision if 'The Late Show' is No. 1 in ratings?'
The announcement came after CBS' parent company Paramount Global settled a $16 million lawsuit with Trump after he alleged Kamala Harris' 60 Minutes interview was deceptively edited.
On his show, following the settlement, Colbert described the move as a "big, fat bribe" as Paramount awaits FDA approval for its merger with Skydance.
Elsewhere on Monday's episode, Colbert was joined by fellow late night hosts like Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Andy Cohen, John Oliver, Anderson Cooper, John Stewart, plus Christopher McDonald and Adam Sandler for a spoof of the recent viral Coldplay kiss-cam video.
Colbert said: "I don't want this show to be associated with making you sad or anxious.
"So I thought: music, OK? That makes people happy, right? So instead of me talking, here with a song to cheer you up are two musical greats."
'Weird Al' Yankovic and Lin-Manuel Miranda then performed Coldplay's Viva La Vida as the 'couples' were shown on screen.
Colbert then joked: "I just got this note from corporate. Your song has been canceled. It says here, 'This is a purely financial decision.' "
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