Jon Stewart reminds Paramount that series like Late Show create its value

In a scathing opening segment for The Daily Show, Stewart took the "corporate fear" of his parent company to task as he applauded his former coworker Stephen Colbert.

Jon Stewart reminds Paramount that series like Late Show create its value
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If anyone was wondering, Jon Stewart is pretty pissed that Paramount and CBS made the decision to end long-running series The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, leaving Stewart’s longtime colleague and friend without a job come May. Before heaping a healthy amount of praise on Colbert, Stewart mocked Paramount and CBS’s claim that The Late Show was cancelled for “purely financial reasons.” “The fact that CBS didn’t try to save their number-one rated network late-night franchise, that’s been on the air for over three decades, is part of what’s making everybody wonder, what’s this? Purely financial? Or maybe the path of least resistance for your $8 billion merger with killing a show that you know rankled a fragile and vengeful president.”

Like so many others in media and politics have suggested, Stewart does not believe Paramount’s stated reasoning, going on to say that CBS “lost the benefit of the doubt” when it settled what was widely considered a frivolous lawsuit filed by Trump over an interview 60 Minutes conducted with presidential nominee Kamala Harris. “I understand the fear that you and your advertisers have with $8 billion at stake, but understand this, truly, the shows that you now seek to cancel, censor and control, a not insignificant portion of that $8 billion value came from those fucking shows. That’s what made you that money,” Stewart continued. Like Colbert, Stewart has been outspoken against Paramount’s decision to settle with Trump, and, perhaps coincidentally, wondered if his show was in trouble as the company completes a merger with Skydance Media. “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 would anyone watch you and you are fucking wrong,” he added, pointing to Trump’s latest lawsuit with the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal

“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,” the host continued toward the end of the segment. “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 doodling Commander in Chief. This is not the moment to give in,” You can check out Stewart’s whole monologue below.

 
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