Why has Trump critic Stephen Colbert’s hit ‘The Late Show’ been cancelled?

The most-watched late-night show on US broadcast television, ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’, is coming to an end and will go off air in May next year.

CBS said it is pulling the plug on the show due to financial challenges.

Notably, Stephen Colbert has openly criticised US President Donald Trump . Meanwhile, the owners of Paramount have been seeking the Trump administration’s approval to sell CBS to Skydance.

Many on social media have questioned whether money was the real reason and suggested the move may have been politically motivated.

In this explainer, we break down what the deal involved, what Colbert said about it, and what we know so far about the show’s cancellation.

Let’s take a look:

What happened? Why was the show cancelled?

‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ has been cancelled and will end in May, marking the close of a 33-year run for the show on CBS.

Speaking to his audience at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York, Colbert said he had been informed on Wednesday night that “next year will be our last season. … It’s the end of ‘The Late Show’ on CBS. I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away.”

His audience reacted with boos and disappointment.

“Yeah, I share your feelings,” the comedian said.

The move has come as a surprise to many, especially since ‘The Late Show’ usually tops the ratings among late-night programmes.

CBS said in a statement that “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.”

A source familiar with the matter told CNN that falling ad revenue has made the show unprofitable.

The news has left many fans stunned. Responses on the show’s Instagram page were filled with disbelief.

One of the most-liked comments read, “this is crazy.”

Among those unhappy with the decision was fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who presents ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ on ABC.

Late-night television has faced financial struggles for years. Ratings have dropped, ad revenues have shrunk, and younger audiences now tend to watch clips online, which broadcasters find difficult to turn into steady income.

Still, Colbert has remained ahead of other late-night hosts in terms of ratings for several years.

What is the Paramount-Skydance settlement? Is Trump behind the cancellation?

The announcement to cancel ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ came just two weeks after Paramount, which owns CBS, settled a $60 million lawsuit with Donald Trump.

The lawsuit was related to a CBS interview with Kamala Harris, Trump’s rival in the 2024 election.

The timing of the settlement, along with Paramount’s ongoing efforts to merge with Skydance Media, sparked questions about Colbert’s future at CBS. Notably, Colbert has been one of the most outspoken critics of Trump on television.

Some critics believe the settlement was mainly aimed at removing a potential obstacle to the Skydance deal.

Colbert spoke out against the company’s decision, referring to the payment to Trump as a “big fat bribe” on Monday night’s episode.

On Tuesday, Colbert said, “Paramount knows they could have fought it,” pointing out that the company had earlier dismissed the lawsuit as “completely without merit.”

He added with a joke, “And keep in mind, Paramount produced Transformers: Rise of the Beast – they know completely without merit.”

Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, who appeared on the show that Thursday, later said on social media, “If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.”

Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has called for an inquiry into Paramount Global’s ties with Trump over the Skydance deal, also wrote: “CBS cancelled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount … America deserves to know if his show was cancelled for political reasons.”

Meanwhile, Trump’s administration has pushed back against what it sees as negative media coverage.

It has also moved to cut funding for public broadcasting, proposing to eliminate the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which helps support public media outlets like PBS and NPR across the US.

CBS’ The Late Show

‘The Late Show’ was launched by CBS as a rival to NBC in the late-night television space.

Its creation followed a high-profile clash between David Letterman and Jay Leno over who would take over from Johnny Carson as host of NBC’s hugely popular ‘Tonight Show’.

Stephen Colbert took over ‘The Late Show’ from Letterman in 2015. Since then, he has become one of the most outspoken critics of Donald Trump on late-night television.

Before joining CBS, Colbert was the host of ‘The Colbert Report’ on Comedy Central, a show known for satirising American conservative politics and culture.

With inputs from agencies