Stephen Colbert's ‘The Late Show' to end in May 2026, CBS confirms
Published on: Fri, Jul 18, 2025
By: AFP Text Size: The timing raised eyebrows, coming days after Colbert criticized CBS parent company Paramount for settling a $16 million lawsuit with former President Donald Trump. Colbert called the settlement 'a big fat bribe.' - AFP NEW YORK: Stephen Colbert's long-running late-night show, 'The Late Show,' will end in May 2026, CBS and the host confirmed. The announcement, made during a live broadcast, was met with audience shock and disappointment. 'Next year will be our last season,' Colbert told viewers, adding, 'The network will be ending the show in May (2026).' CBS clarified the decision was financial, stating, 'purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night,' unrelated to performance or content.
Advertisement The timing raised eyebrows, coming days after Colbert criticized CBS parent company Paramount for settling a $16 million lawsuit with former President Donald Trump. Colbert called the settlement 'a big fat bribe.' Political figures questioned the cancellation's motives. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren posted on X, '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.' CBS praised Colbert's legacy, saying, 'He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television.' * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Seoul ends troubled private adoption as ministry takes full control
Adoption reform: A file photo showing social workers caring for babies at a community church in southern Seoul. — AFP THE nation is set to overhaul its adoption system by ending the decades-old practice of outsourcing adoptions to private agencies, which has led to widespread allegations of abuse. South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy and a global cultural powerhouse, sent more than 140,000 children overseas between 1955 and 1999. But an official enquiry concluded this year that the international adoption process had been riddled with irregularities, including 'fraudulent orphan registrations, identity tampering, and inadequate vetting of adoptive parents'. The rights of South Korean children had been violated, the landmark investigation by a truth commission found. The independent body established by the state called for an official apology and blamed the government for the issues, especially a failure to regulate adoption fees that effectively turned it into a profit-driven industry. South Korea will introduce a 'newly restructured public adoption system, under which the state and local governments take full responsibility for the entire adoption process,' South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare said. The change is a 'significant step towards ensuring the safety and promoting the rights of adopted children,' the ministry added. International adoption began after the Korean War as a way to remove mixed-race children, born to Korean mothers and American soldier fathers, from a country that emphasised ethnic homogeneity. It became big business in the 1970s to 1980s, bringing international adoption agencies millions of dollars as South Korea overcame post-war poverty and faced rapid and aggressive economic development. But the system failed children, the truth commission said in March, with a failure to follow 'proper legal consent procedures' for South Korean birth parents resulting in highly-publicised reports of lost children being put up for overseas adoption. Under the new system, key procedures – such as assessing prospective adoptive parents and matching them with children – will be deliberated by a ministry committee, in accordance with the principle of the 'best interests of the child'. Activists, however, say the measure should be merely a starting point and warn it is far from sufficient. 'The government should prioritise implementing the findings of the truth commission, issue an official apology, and work to help the tens of thousands of Koreans who were sent abroad for adoption, said writer Lisa Wool-rim Sjoblom, a Korean adoptee who grew up in Sweden. — AFP
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Parched oil capital drills for water
A man filling a drum with water in the Cardoncito 2 neighbourhood in the Antonio Borjas community in Maracaibo, Zulia state, Venezuela. In Venezuela's once prosperous oil capital, the electricity goes out for hours, there is no petrol and water is rationed for days at a time. — AFP IN Venezuela's oil capital of Maracaibo, a drilling frenzy has led to dozens of new wells – but the valuable liquid being pumped out is just water, not petroleum. In a symbol of the woes of Venezuela's crumbling economy, the once flourishing oil town of two million people is parched. Experts blame the nationwide shortage of drinking water on corruption and years of under-investment and mismanagement by national and local governments, resulting in frequent water cuts. The corroding infrastructure has led to schools, homes, businesses, churches and health centres all digging their own wells – at a huge expense. A private well costs between US$1,000 and US$6,000 (RM4,240 and RM25,480), a fortune in the sanctions-hit Caribbean country where the minimum monthly wage is around US$200 (RM849.50). As a result, homes that come with a ready-made well and generator – Venezuelans also live with recurring power cuts – sell for a premium. While water rationing has been in place in Venezuelan cities for years, the situation in Maracaibo has become critical, as pumping stations break down, old pipes leak and reservoirs run dry. No water came out of the taps in certain parts of the city for over a month at the start of this year. Manuel Palmar and six other families in the lower-middle-class neighbourhood of Ziruma saw the writing on the wall four years ago. They each paid US$2,500 to build a 12m-deep well, which can store up to about 80,000 litres of spring water each week. Now when Palmar turns on the tap, water gushes out for free. The water is not fit for drinking due to its high salinity – saltwater from the Caribbean Sea seeps into Lake Maracaibo, a coastal lake used as a freshwater source – but 'it's perfect for washing clothes and flushing toilets', he explained. 'It's a blessing!' the 34-year-old accountant said. There's a solution of sorts for every budget. Some residents fill 200-litre drums at official filling stations or communal taps for US$2-US$3 (RM8.40-RM12.70). Others order a water truck to fill their building's tank for between US$40 and US$60 (RM169.90 and RM254.80). Some even recycle the water produced by the tropical city's ubiquitous air conditioners or collect rainwater. But those are all quick fixes. Over the past six years, more and more residents have begun digging wells to guarantee their long-term supply for the future. Gabriel Delgado has built about 20 wells in Maracaibo, including at a heart disease clinic and four private schools. He also built one at his mother-in-law's home: a grey cement cylinder, one and a half metres in diameter, buried under metal sheeting and rocks. Cobwebs dangle just above the water level, but as soon as he activates the pump, water pours forth. It's crystal clear, unlike the yellowish liquid that flows from the city's taps during the rainy season, and Delgado eagerly sips it. Venezuelans must receive authorisation from health and environmental authorities before drilling a well, and they are required to provide water samples for testing to ensure it is fit for consumption once it's built. But not everyone bothers. Javier Otero, head of Maracaibo's municipal water department, said he had come across shallow artisanal wells built near sewers or polluted ravines. 'Some people drink water that is not potable, that is brackish,' he said. The municipality has built seven wells to supply Maracaibo's poorer neighbourhoods. — AFP
Free Malaysia Today
4 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Too early to decide on Nick Adams's nomination as US envoy, says Anwar
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the government will give the nomination of Nick Adams due consideration and, at the same time, maintain good ties with Washington. PUTRAJAYA : Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says it is premature for the government to decide on whether to approve conservative political commentator Nick Adams as the next US ambassador to Malaysia. Anwar said Putrajaya is following the proper protocol in considering foreign ambassadorial appointments. 'It is still too early (to decide),' he told reporters after Friday prayers here. 'Of course, the government will give it due consideration. At the same time, we will maintain good relations between Malaysia and the US.' US president Donald Trump has nominated Adams as Washington's new ambassador to Malaysia. His nomination will need to be confirmed by the US senate before he can assume the role. While no date has been set for the senate vote, Adams is expected to be approved as the Republican-held senate has backed every Trump nominee since he became president in January. Adams's nomination has faced opposition from former law minister Zaid Ibrahim and former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin, who said Malaysia has every right under the Vienna Convention to reject the appointment without providing a reason. Zaid described Adams as a 'right-wing agitator and partisan provocateur' who is unfit to serve as a US ambassador because of his lack of diplomatic credentials. Adams previously criticised alleged efforts to 'teach Islam in schools'. Known to be a staunch supporter of Israel, he has said that those who expressed solidarity with Palestinians supported terrorism. Selangor PAS Youth chief Sukri Omar said accepting Adams's nomination will be seen as an insult to the country's Muslim community and Malaysians who support Palestine. PKR Youth today submitted a memorandum of protest to the US embassy over the nomination.
