Even with the weekend to process, Hollywood is still in shock over CBS cancelling "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert." The long-running talk show was winning its timeslot comfortably in the ratings and was widely considered a flagship show for the network, but none of that was enough to keep it on the air. It’ll officially end in May of 2026, though the why behind it all is still a fierce matter of debate.
When CBS announced the cancellation, it said it was purely a financial decision, but to many fans, the timing of it all is quite curious. The network is in the middle of a planned merger with Skydance, a media company run by the Ellison Family, who have close personal ties to President Trump. Earlier the same week, Colbert blasted CBS for settling a lawsuit with the President over a "60 Minutes" story and paying $16M toward his Presidential Library. He called the money a “big fat bribe” and used other colorful language to make it clear he was disappointed in his bosses.
