Stephen Colbert Issues Donald Trump Warning On Late Show
The network insisted that the reason they were bringing the long-running show to an end is due to 'financial decisions.' However, there is rampant speculation that it is actually a result of President Donald Trump's personal dislike for the show and Stephen. In fact, multiple CBS staffers told the Independent that they think the decision was made as part of the 'Trump shakedown' that began with the network's parent company Paramount's $16 million settlement with Trump over Kamala Harris's appearance on 60 Minutes, which he claimed was 'election interference.'Interestingly, Stephen's abrupt announcement about his show being cancelled came just days after he'd criticized this settlement on the show, calling it a 'big, fat bribe.'
Needless to say, the whole situation has been met with uproar from big name celebrities as well as viewers, with Jimmy Kimmel leading the charge against CBS when he posted: 'Love you, Stephen. Fuck you and all your Sheldons, CBS,' seemingly referring to the network's many Big Bang Theory spin-offs about the character Sheldon.
Trump, however, had quite the opposite reaction. After the news broke, he took to Truth Social to laud CBS for the decision, writing: 'I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.'
'I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next,' Trump went on. 'Has even less talent than Colbert! Greg Gutfeld is better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show.'And Stephen hit back at the president with a simple three-word response when he returned to air for Monday's episode of The Late Show.
Responding to the post, Stephen said: 'How dare you, sir? Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism?' an onscreen frame then appeared around the host, captioned 'Eloquence Cam.' Stephen looked directly into the camera and pointedly said: 'Go fuck yourself.'
He then referenced Trump's comment about Jimmy Kimmel, saying: 'Nope, no, no. Absolutely not. Kimmel, I am the martyr — there's only room for one on this cross!"
Stephen vowed to spend the last season of his show speaking 'unvarnished truth to power,' telling viewers: '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,' he went on. 'I don't care for him. Doesn't have the skillset to be president. Not a good fit, that's all.'He also questioned CBS's insistence that the cancellation is simply due to the network's finances, asking: 'How could it be purely be a financial decision if The Late Show is number one in ratings?'Stephen was supported by his celebrity friends on Monday's show, with fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Andy Cohen, John Oliver, Anderson Cooper, and Jon Stewart joining him for the episode.
And later on, Stephen spoofed the recent viral Coldplay jumbotron video by having "Weird Al" Yankovic and Lin-Manuel Miranda perform Coldplay's 'Viva La Vida' as celebrity pairings were shown on screen.
It then cut to an animation of Trump embracing the Paramount logo before panicking and sheepishly diving to the floor when he realized they were on screen.
"Guys, stop!" Stephen then shouted. "I'm sorry, I just got this note from corporate... Your song has been cancelled... It says here it's a purely financial decision."
Also on Monday, Jon Stewart lashed out at Paramount for the cancellation over on his show, the Daily Show, which airs under the same parent company. He said: 'I understand the corporate fear. I understand the fear that you and your advertisers have with $8 billion at stake, but understand this, truly, the shows you now seek to cancel, censor, and control, a not insignificant portion of that $8 billion value came from these fucking shows. That's what made you that money."
'Shows that say something, shows that take a stand, shows that are unafraid. Believe me, this is not a 'We speak truth to power.' We don't. We speak opinions to television cameras, but we try. We fucking try, every night,' Jon went on. 'If you believe as corporations or as networks you can make yourselves so innocuous that you can serve a gruel so flavorless that you will never again be on the boy king's radar. Why will anyone watch you? You are fucking wrong.""If you're trying to figure out why Stephen's show is ending, I don't think the answer can be found in some smoking gun email or phone call from Trump to CBS executives or in CBS' QuickBooks spreadsheets on the financial health of late night,' he continued. "I think the answer is in the fear and pre-compliance that is gripping all of America's institutions at this very moment, institutions that have chosen not to fight the vengeful and vindictive actions of our pubic hair drooling Commander in Chief. This is not the moment to give in. I'm not giving in, I'm not going anywhere, I think."Jon then echoed Stephen's own monologue, concluding: "If you're afraid and you protect your bottom line, I've got but one thing to say: 'Go fuck yourself.'"
You can watch Stephen's full opening monologue below. What do you make of this whole situation? Let me know in the comments!
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