Stephen Colbert first began hosting The Late Show in September of 2015. He took over the Ed Sullivan theatre after David Letterman’s retirement. The show, started in 1993 with Letterman, is now being cancelled after over 30 years of interviews and comedy.
What’s going on?
After a successful career on CBS, Colbert’s The Late Show was suddenly cancelled by the company in July of 2025 following problems surrounding the show’s imminent death as a program. However, the true reasons behind his jolting cancellation are shrouded in political mystery. Apparently, his show was no longer performing well as late night shows are a part of a dying culture, now especially with different ways to stream everything. Another convenient rationale the company repeated was that the show was struggling financially. This makes no sense whatsoever as The Late Show is one of CBS’s most successful programs and has been for over 3 decades.
Who is Stephen Colbert?
If this is the first that you are hearing about him then I am eternally sorry because you won’t get much before he leaves his stage. Colbert started his career in comedy with The Daily Show, a successful, satirical comedy show hosted by Jon Stewart. The show then was already interesting to the public after it was a perfect blend of comedy and genuine news. After joining the show in 1997, Colbert became a recurring performer who was appreciated for his deadpan and striking use of satire.
Colbert later left the show in 2005 to host The Colbert Report, a spinoff of The Daily Show. In this new program, Colbert took on the persona of a hyperbolic, right-wing pundit. The role was a commentary on strong, conservative political views and was used as a look into an extreme version of certain political opinions. The show was immediately regarded by the public as a spectacular spectacle of American politics.
When Colbert came to The Late Show, he was finally able to act as himself on camera. There he expanded his comedy and briefly pointed away from being a super political comedian. However, the satire and pointed commentary still remained. In his time, Colbert was the #1 political comedian on late night television. The show was roaringly successful, despite seeming to often go against public opinion, until… he was banned.
From then forward, Colbert became an even more honest version of himself. Now not only being a political comedian but a critic and intellectual about political theory. Unlike some late-night hosts, Colbert isn’t limited in who he brings on the show. Just a few weeks ago he sat down to talk with President Barack Obama, with whom he teased about running for office himself. Then just last week, 4 other comedians, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, and John Oliver all came on the show together to wish their friend all of the best outside of the Ed Sullivan theatre.
Colbert was more than just a late-night comedian, he brought worlds together. Unlike past generations, the hosts of today are all good friends, and they like to see each other succeed. They don’t get caught up in competition because the industry simply runs in an entirely different way. Especially in a world where the government is getting involved in late night comedy. Kimmel had already been briefly off the air once, clearly this isn’t an issue that is just going to go away. The president has now blatantly shut down these comedians. Colbert’s cancellation is the end of an era and the start of a new time with media censorship where you least expect it.
Colbert was successful and educated and well-loved, but that wasn’t enough to not get cancelled by his company.
Why was Colbert cancelled?
CBS claims to a point of redundancy that the ultimate agreement to pull the plug was “purely a financial decision” and “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount (a new partner-company of CBS).” They even go so far as to say that the choice was “agonizing” as they appreciate Colbert’s work so much.
It is true that late shows in their genre are sadly heading towards extinction, with Trevor Noah and James Corden moving on in 2022 and advertising itself being at an all-time low. However, since this cancellation, loyal viewers have only been tuning in more to see their beloved comedian. To most, the show appears to be thriving. In fact, the show was regarded as the #1 political comedy show on late-night. Week after week incredible guests flock to the Ed Sullivan theatre to talk with Colbert and send him their best wishes.
This retraction is more than a simple financial trick or a last-ditch effort by CBS to gain back any funding they lost. This is a deliberate attempt to manipulate satirical media and shut down people like Stephen Colbert, whose views don’t conform to those of the president.
The cancellation could have been a result of approaching financial decline or studio obsoletion, but it also occurred right when Paramount, and through extension CBS, was in the process of being bought by Skydance through a complicated, multi-million-dollar merger agreement that would also so happen to require approval from the Trump administration. Approval that maybe wouldn’t have been granted without silencing one of the more left-wing figures from the company.
There are also less-than-legit decisions that Paramount has made to escape legal trouble, including agreeing to pay President Trump in exchange for a settled lawsuit with one of the company’s well-known programs, 60 Minutes. Colbert described that as a “big fat bribe” in one of his show’s opening monologues.
This sudden downfall of an amazing and well-received show will always be a hard lesson in this changing political climate.
What will he do next?
Stephen Colbert has always had a large passion for performance, and comedy. He has explored the idea of making special guest host appearances on different talk shows. Thanks to his connections with other comedians, through the podcast Strike Force Five, with Meyers, Fallon, Oliver, and Kimmel, he still has a major influence over the comedy industry.
For now, Colbert is working on the newest Lord of the Rings movie alongside his son, Peter McGee.
However, as of right now, Colbert has gained loyalty and respect from people all across the world, celebrities and fans alike. This being said, I find it unlikely that he will simply drop all of the progress he has made. He doesn’t seem like the person to give up after making such a splash. In the past, he has even toyed with the idea of running for office. This would be an insane career change, but who knows what to expect from a guy like Stephen Colbert.
Why does this matter?
In the end, this cancellation is something to carefully consider as we move forward as a nation. CBS can say what they want but Colbert, a proud democrat, used comedy to get political points across and was cut off. This is more than a financial decision and it’s a strange use of censorship.
Does our government truly think that our system is so fragile that they must go out of their way to silence a white, male, devout catholic comedian for his democratic, satirical views?
If so, who’s next?
