CBS says that only financial decisions were behind its cancellation of “The Late Show,” hosted by virulently anti-Trump comedian Stephen Colbert, but may Colbert fans – and Democrats – aren’t buying it.
A left-wing media reporter who suggested last week that such a move might happen, Oliver Darcy, said on his podcast, recorded Thursday night, that CBS’ explanation for the decision to end the late-night show is not credible. In an episode of his new podcast “Power Lines,” Mr. Darcy discussed the move with his co-host and former CNN colleague, Jon Passantino.
“This is a big deal…to make this decision that one of your network’s biggest stars — if not the biggest star of CBS these days — is now going to be departing,” Mr. Passantino said.
He read CBS’ statement about the decision, which said it 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.”
Mr. Darcy quipped, “About zero people believe that, by the way.”
The announcement notably came two weeks after CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global, agreed to settle President Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit for the much lower sum of $16 million — and no apology — for the editing of Vice President Harris’ October 2024 interview with “60 Minutes, as it seeks to win the federal government’s approval of its crucial merger with Skydance Media.
There is also informed speculation that there’s more to the settlement than the announced $16 million payment. Mr. Trump claims that Paramount will donate another $15 million or more in public service announcements promoting causes of interest to Mr. Trump. Then there are multiple media reports that Skydance is buying the anti-woke, pro-Israel Free Press, with the goal of employing its founder, Bari Weiss, in a capacity where she would help quash the liberal, anti-Israel bias which CBS News has long been accused of harboring.
On Friday, Puck reported that it had obtained a memo written by the attorney for David Ellison, the chief of Skydance who is the son of Larry Ellison, the second richest man in the world. The memo, by attorney Matthew Brill, summarized a meeting between David Ellison and Brendan Carr, Mr. Trump’s FCC chief whose agency must approve the Skydance-CBS transaction. According to Mr. Brill’s memo, Mr. Ellison assured Mr. Carr that Skydance was committed “to unbiased journalism and the embrace of diverse viewpoints.” Mr. Ellison also assured Mr. Carr that Skydance “will ensure CBS’s editorial decision-making reflects the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers.”
It would be very hard to describe “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” as tolerant of diverse viewpoints. Every weeknight for ten years, Mr. Colbert has skewered Mr. Trump, and also had on as guests some of Mr. Trump’s most devoted foes, such as Senator Adam Schiff and former FBI Director James Comey.
On the Power Lines podcast, Mr. Passantino said it’s “hard to detach” the end of Mr. Colbert’s show from the merger.
“It’s impossible, I mean it’s literally impossible to detach this from the merger,” Mr. Darcy agreed. “CBS will try, but everyone can see the subtext here.”
He did not dispute the possibility that Mr. Colbert’s show is “on a downward trajectory in terms of money,” as he said “none” of the big money-making network shows are bringing as much revenue as they used to because linear television is on a “downward trajectory.” However, he said there is “no way” that Mr. Colbert’s show was losing money.
Mr. Darcy’s assertion here reflects a lack of understanding of the economics of broadcast television. On Thursday night, Puck’s Matt Belloni, a very plugged-in Hollywood reporter, wrote that the “Late Show” was losing $40 million a year.
Mr. Darcy did note, correctly, that David Ellison, wants to get rid of the “liberal taint” at CBS and that Mr. Colbert is the “most liberal face” of the network.
“[Mr. Colbert] goes on every single night and he needles Donald Trump. Donald Trump has called for him to be fired. And so it was pretty obvious that something like this was going to happen,” Mr. Darcy said.
Mr. Trump celebrated the move, writing on Friday on Truth Social, “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert! Greg Gutfeld is better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show.”
Mr. Kimmel, a rival to Mr. Colbert, reacted to Mr. Colbert’s firing in a post on Instagram, writing, “Love you Stephen. F— you and all your Sheldons CBS.”
Jimmy Fallon, host of the troubled “Tonight Show,” which lost its dominance years ago, when Mr. Colbert’s attacks on Trump goosed his ratings, also reacted to the news, writing on Instagram, “I’m just as shocked as everyone. Stephen is one of the sharpest, funniest hosts to ever do it. I really thought I’d ride this out with him for years to come.”
“I’m sad that my family and friends will need a new show to watch every night at 11:30. But honestly, he’s really been a gentleman and a true friend over the years – going back to ‘The Colbert Report,’ and I’m sure whatever he does next will be just as brilliant,” he said.
Despite writing last week that the network might cut Mr. Colbert’s show, Mr. Darcy said he did not expect it to happen so quickly. He also doubted CBS’ statement that the decision was made solely by the network and that Skydance executives — who have no formal role in such decisions yet — had no say in the matter.
“That’s obviously absurd because George Cheeks —one of the co-CEOs of Paramount, he’s in charge of CBS — he would never in a million years fire the most recognized person on CBS. Stephen Colbert is the most recognized personality on CBS. There’s no way that George Cheeks would say, we’re not going to renew him just weeks before the new leadership comes in,” Mr. Darcy said.
He added that he has “reliably” heard that the Skydance deal will close in the next few weeks and suggested that Mr. Cheeks would not take such an action, which could “ruin the ship,” unless the new owners wanted it to happen.
(Puck reports that Skydance was not formally consulted on the decision to kill the show – the decision, as a business matter, was not “material” enough to legally obligate Paramount to include its prospective new owner.)
Nevertheless, Mr. Darcy said there is “no world in which David Ellison did not greenlight or ask for this.”
Mr. Passantino and Mr. Darcy questioned whether anti-Trump comedian Jon Stewart, whose show airs on Paramount-owned Comedy Central, will also be let go. Mr. Passantino suggested that such a move might happen before the Skydance deal closes.
The decision to cancel Mr. Colbert sparked criticism from Democrats and liberal journalists. Senator Warren wrote on X, “CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that looks like bribery. America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.”
Mr. Schiff wrote, “Just finished taping with Stephen Colbert, who announced his show was cancelled. If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.”
With the Skydance deal expected to soon be greenlit by the FCC, CBS News could see some significant changes. Mr. Belloni reported that Mr. Ellison is in talks with a former Fox News executive, who also ran CBS News for eight years, David Rhodes, to return and run the network. If all goes according to plan, Mr. Rhodes would be aided by Ms. Weiss, the Free Press founder, in reining in the news divisions’ left-wing bias. Many executives have tried that before.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
