CBS Cowardly Cuts Colbert, 'Late Show' to Appease President Trump, Help Merger Process

by Julian Spivey

Photo: CBS

I shouldn’t have been surprised. There were reports released within the last week that CBS/Paramount could consider firing Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart as a means of appeasing the Trump administration, as Paramount attempts to merge with Skydance Media.

And as anybody who pays attention to television knows that late-night talk shows have been a slowly dying breed that someday in the near future might cease to exist altogether.

But I still viewed the “Late Show” as something off-limits for the network. Maybe Colbert wasn’t off-limits, but surely the show would be?

That’s why Thursday’s news, which Colbert broke during the taping of that night’s “Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” was so shocking to me. The “Late Show” was a television institution under David Letterman and continued in this role with Colbert. I thought that would at least continue for as long as the other major broadcast networks, especially NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” existed. After all, Colbert’s “Late Show” was the most-watched of the three network 10:35 p.m. (CST) shows and is still earning Emmy Award nominations, something Jimmy Fallon’s “The Tonight Show” isn’t doing.

CBS said in a statement on Thursday: “This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”

The last part of that statement feels like a boldface lie, especially in the aftermath of Paramount agreeing to pay President Donald Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit Trump filed over a “60 Minutes” interview with his election opponent Kamala Harris, in which he accused the most-respected news program likely in television history of deceptive editing. The editing in question was merely the typical editing you’d see from any news program trying to fit an interview into their allotted broadcasting time. It’s a fight many believe CBS and “60 Minutes” would have won, had they not backed down to the President in hopes of his help in pushing through the Paramount/Skydance Media merger, which requires approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), whose five commissioners are appointed by the President.  

Longtime “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens resigned from his position in April, telling his staff in a memo: “over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for ’60 Minutes,’ right for the audience.”

Big brother had won the fight when it came to the news on its network, and many felt it might turn toward attempting to silence two of Trump’s most prominent critics within its organization, Colbert on CBS’ “Late Show” and Jon Stewart and his cohorts on the Paramount-owned Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.”

Colbert had spoken out on the “Late Show” about the Paramount/Trump settlement just two days before the announcement of his show ending, saying: “I am offended. I don’t know if anything – anything – will repair my trust in this company. But, just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would help.”

As far as “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” goes, it will end its run after more than 10 years on CBS in May of 2026. I sincerely hope Colbert goes scorched earth on both the Trump administration and CBS, Paramount and Skydance Media the entire time.

Make no mistake, “The Daily Show” is on thin ice, and my guess is will be canceled or an announcement of its ending will be made by year’s end.

CBS and Paramount have proven to be cowards all the way through this pending merger with Skydance Media, with their lips firmly applied to the backside of the President of the United States. And they’ve gutted two of their longest-running and most celebrated shows in the process. If only those writing the checks had the integrity of “60 Minutes” and the morality of Stephen Colbert.