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On Monday’s episode of “The Daily Show,” host Jon Stewart tore into CBS and its parent company, Paramount, over their decision to cancel “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” decrying it as a “capitulation” to President Donald Trump.
Stewart pointed to Paramount’s recent $16 million settlement with Trump in a lawsuit he filed over a 2024 “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris. The settlement raised questions about Paramount’s motives as it seeks to merge with Skydance — a move that requires Trump administration approval.
In a statement last week, Paramount and CBS executives said the cancellation “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.”
“I acknowledge losing money — late-night TV is a struggling financial model,” Stewart said on Monday’s episode of his show. “We are all basically operating a Blockbuster kiosk inside of a Tower Records. But when your industry is faced with changes, you don’t just call it a day. My God. When CDs stopped selling, they didn’t just go, ‘Oh well, music, it’s been a good run.’”
He continued:
The fact that CBS didn’t try to save their number-one rated network late-night franchise that’s been on air for over three decades is part of what’s making everybody wonder, was this purely financial or maybe the path of least resistance for your $8 billion merger? ... I believe CBS lost the benefit of the doubt two weeks prior when they sold out their flagship news program to pay an extortion fee to said president.
Stewart, a longtime friend of Colbert, noted at the beginning of his remarks that he is “certainly not the most objective [person] to comment on this matter.” The two comedians worked together on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” from 1999 to 2005, before Colbert got his own spinoff show, “The Colbert Report,” on the same network. (Comedy Central is also owned by Paramount.) Colbert later took over CBS’ “The Late Show” in 2015 following host David Letterman’s retirement.
“Stephen challenged his abilities in the biggest field you could,” Stewart said, adding, “Watching Stephen exceeded all expectations in the role and became the number one late-night show on network television and has been an undeniable great pleasure for me as a viewer and as his friend.”
Stewart suggested CBS gave in to “corporate fear” because Colbert’s show “rankled a fragile and vengeful president.”
“I understand the fear that you and your advertisers have with $8 billion at stake,” he said. “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 f------ shows. ... If you believe, as corporations or as networks, you can make yourselves so innocoous 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?”
He added:
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. 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. I’m not giving in!
"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" is the most-viewed late-night show on network television. Its final episode is set to air next May.
Watch Stewart's remarks on the cancellation below: