CBS cancels late show with Stephen Colbert “Spark Reaction”
“The Late Show” will be held until May 2026. Host Stephen Colbert will not be replaced and the show will be cancelled entirely.
Top Hollywood Writers Union is seeking CBS’s investigation into Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show.”
Colbert announced a shocking late-night shakeup at the July 17 show, revealing that the network has finished the show in 2026.
Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, calls the move “a purely financial decision against the challenging late-night background. It has no relation to the performance of the show, the content, or any other issues happening at Paramount.”
The WGA pushed back that claim. “Cancellations are part of the business, but in a democratic society, businesses that end the show with malice due to explicit or implicit political pressure, are statements from a statement by the writers and writers guildguild in the Eastern United States.
The WGA statement referenced earlier this month a settlement with Paramount President Donald Trump. Paramount Global agreed to a controversial $16 million settlement with the president on July 1, on a honour-loss lawsuit in connection with a “60-minute” interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
“Paramount agreed to settle the unfounded lawsuit brought against ’60 minutes’ and the CBS News by President Trump for $16 million,” the WGA said. However, on a July 15 episode of the late-night show, “Collbert went on air and called the settlement a “big fat bribe” in exchange for a favorable decision on the proposal to merge between Paramount and Skydance, accusations currently under investigation in California. ”
Both Colbert and John Stewart, fellow late-night hosts whose program “The Daily Show” aired on Comedy Central, were critical of the settlement.
“Within 48 hours, on July 17th, Paramount cancelled its “Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” This is the show that is currently playing in Timeslot, and is stated as the only explanation with vague references to the program’s “financial performance,” the statement continued. During Colbert’s tenure in “The Late Show,” the guild said:
However, with what the guild calls “Paramount’s recent surrender to President Trump in the CBS News lawsuit,” the WGA has “a significant concern that late show ‘cancellations’ are bribes.”
A statement from Paramount Global Executives, including co-CEO George Cheek, said Colbert will not be replaced as a host — the show will simply end. “We believe Stephen Colbert is invaluable and will retire from the then “Late Show” franchise,” the statement said. “I’m proud that Stephen has invited CBS to the house.”
The writers’ union said “Paramount’s decision is against the background of President Trump’s ruthless attack on the free press through lawsuits against CBS and the ABC, against threatening a meaningless exemption from media organisations with serious coverage and against PBS and NPR.
This week, Senate Republicans pushed forward with measures to curb $9 billion in federal funding, hit both foreign aid programs and public broadcasting, and target dollars that support both PBS and NPR.
The union called on New York Attorney General Lettia James, who previously filed a well-known lawsuit against Trump, to join California and begin an investigation into potential misconduct in Paramount. ”
“We ask our elected leaders to answer why this beloved program was cancelled and to assure the public that Colbert and his writers are not censored because of the president’s opinion or whim,” the WGA wrote. “In the meantime, the American Writers Guild will support members who speak truth to power, across the late-night industry, ‘Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ and late-night industry, exploring all the potential legal and political measures to fight for their members in the aftermath of this decision. ”
Contributor: Brian Alexander, Savanna Kucha, USA Today
