CBS Mornings anchor insults Stephen Colbert live on-air

Daily Mail​

23-07-2025

Steven Colbert has been insulted live on-air by one of his CBS stablemates who implied the axing of the liberal star's talk show is no great loss. Tony Dokoupil branded Colbert and his stablemates 'one sided' on CBS Mornings Wednesday while he and his colleagues discussed Jon Stewart 's defense of The Late Show, which will disappear from screens in May 2026. Stewart claimed on his show Tuesday that a large part of CBS' parent company Paramount's $8 billion valuation was due to Colbert, despite The Late Show losing $40 million a year.
Paramount plans to merge with media company Skydance in the coming months if it can gain approval from President Trump's Federal Communications Commission. Stewart and others have suggested anti-MAGA Colbert had been axed to grease the wheels of that deal. But Dokoupil was clearly unimpressed by that theory and even gave an exasperated sounding sigh live on air after the clip of Stewart was played.
'I understand the emotional views,' he said. 'I don't have an MBA but he's not right that the merger, the $8 billion, is based on reruns of a comedy show, no. 'People are buying the movies and the sitcoms and the sports. They're not based on reruns of us (CBS Mornings) either, so I think it's wrong.' Dokoupil then attacked Colbert himself, saying his show and its competitors 'got way way more one-sided than anything Johnny Carson was ever doing'.
He was referring to talk show icon Carson, whose late night program paved the way for the likes of Colbert and who never shared his political views during his 30 years on air. He added: '[Stewart] acknowledged that these late-night shows are what he called like a Blockbuster kiosk inside a Tower Record – so the business is broken.' Co-host Gayle King ignored Dokoupil while adding that she felt sorry for Colbert, describing it as 'very difficult'.
Dokoupil agreed, adding that he felt 'for the whole staff of both those shows, and whatever comes next for everybody'. Dokoupil is no stranger to going against the grain, and last year found himself hauled before CBS' in-house DEI team after clashing with author Ta-Nehisi Coates over his anti-Israel views. Stewart's spiel came during a reflective segment on The Daily Show, which originally aired alongside Colbert's since-cancelled 'Colbert Report' in the 2000s.
He said Colbert went on to 'exceed all expectations' upon leaving Comedy Central for late-night, before acknowledging the fading format as a whole. 'Now, I acknowledge, losing money, late-night TV is a struggling financial model ,' he said. 'We are all basically operating a Blockbuster kiosk inside of a Tower Records.' 'But when your industry is faced with changes, you don't just call it a day,' joking. 'W hen CDs stopped selling, they didn't just go, "Oh, well, music, it's been a good run!".'
He addressed executives at Paramount - CBS's parent company - directly, accusing them of capitulating to Trump to secure the sale. He said: 'I believe CBS lost the benefit of the doubt two weeks prior, when they sold out their flagship news program to pay an extortion fee to said president.' 'At that time, poor Andy Rooney must have been rolling over in his bed,' he joked of the late legendary news writer. 'That's right. He is alive. Andy Rooney is alive.'
'I understand the corporate fear. I understand the fear that you and your advertisers have with $8 billion at stake. But understand this,' Stewart added. 'Truly, the shows that you now seek to cancel, censor, and control? A not-insignificant portion of that $8 billion value came from those [expletive] shows,' he added. Last Thursday, CBS announced that the comedian's decade-long run as the host of CBS' late night flagship will end next May.
Colbert was paid between $15 million and $20 million a year for his failing show. 'Insiders' immediately maintained to publications like Puck and Variety the top-rated show was canceled due to being a money pit what was losing $40million a year. The sudden move s parked immediate backlash from left-wing celebrities and politicians, who claim the decision was strictly politically-motivated.