CBS is canceling Colbert's Late Show next year, calling it "purely a financial decision"

In a statement, CBS execs bent over backwards to deny this had anything to do with Colbert criticizing parent company Paramount earlier this week.

By William Hughes | July 17, 2025 | 7:51pm

Stephen Colbert, Photo: CBS

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CBS is canceling Colbert's Late Show next year, calling it

CBS announced today that The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will be ending when its current season wraps in 2026, calling the choice to cancel the top-rated late-night show “purely a financial decision.” Stephen Colbert broke the news to his audience at the start of tonight’s taping of the CBS series. The network has made it clear that it won’t seek to replace Colbert in the spot, and instead will put the Late Show brand to rest.

CBS issued an early “in memoriam” for the show pretty much the minute the news broke, with various network higher-ups releasing the following statement, pretty clearly trying to get out in front of accusations that the network was retaliating against Colbert for criticizing parent company Paramount earlier this week.

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The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will end its historic run in May 2026 at the end of the broadcast season. We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire The Late Show franchise at that time. We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television. 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.

So, yeah: Definitely a cancellation, and not something more mutual. The question now, obviously, is motive. (To be fair, the network has been making moves suggesting it’s ready to abdicate the costs and somewhat questionable rewards of dominating in modern late-night, having just kind of shrugged and ended things after Taylor Tomlinson announced that she was stepping away from After Midnight.) Even so, it’s wild to see Colbert—who is consistently at the top of this particular game, sometimes coming close to doubling the ratings of his various Jimmy-named competitors—be the one to get the axe, and hard not to view in light of his willingness to speak truth to Paramount about the company’s willingness to settle its lawsuit with Donald Trump in the service of getting its ongoing merger with Skydance approved.

Colbert—who took over the job from David Letterman back in 2015, after cutting his satirical teeth on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report—was reportedly informed of the decision on Wednesday night.

[via Variety]