How Stephen Colbert Has Pushed Back Against CBS With the Help of His Late Night Peers
On Thursday, July 24, he even introduced a monologue cut-away segment 'Show Un-Cancelled.' Of course, that announcement turns out to be a fake-out — and the graphic used for it supposedly cost $40 million. That one's light hearted — no more scathing than what 'Arrested Development' threw down in its last season on Fox (anyone old enough to remember that reference?). Throughout the first week of shows as a fallen angel, however, Colbert repeatedly seemed to play chicken with his network, CBS, and its parent company, Paramount, which just got the OK from the Trump Justice Department for a merger with Skydance (set to close August 7.) Not only did he reference the cancellation and the Skydance deal numerous times, he also went even harder on Trump.
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An then the other late night shows went just as hard (or harder) on CBS and Paramount. On Monday, July 21, most of the other hosts even appeared in a Colbert segment, showcasing support for their competitor. References abounded in their own segments — some humorous, some ominous warnings — including some strong words from Jon Stewart on 'The Daily Show,' which airs on fellow Paramount property Comedy Central.
'Shows that say something, shows that take a stand, shows that are unafraid — this is not a 'We speak truth to power.' We don't. We speak opinions to television cameras. But we try. We fucking try, every night,' Stewart said. 'And if you believe, as corporations or as networks, you can make yourself so innocuous that you can serve a gruel so flavorless that you will never again be on the boy king's radar — A) Why will anyone watch you? And [B)] you are fucking wrong.'
Fellow hosts Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, meanwhile, seem to be next on Trump's cancellation wish list — considering he called for their cancellation and all. Fallon has been on vacation, and therefore has not had a monologue with which to respond. He did, however, write a statement that told the network, 'Fuck you and all your Sheldons CBS.'
On the July 21 show, Fallon said, 'I am your host, well… at least for tonight. I don't like it. I don't like what's going on one bit.'
Fallon did get in a dig at CBS' streaming platform, adding, 'And many people are now threatening to boycott the network. Yep. CBS could lose millions of viewers plus tens of hundreds watching on Paramount+.' 'The Tonight Show' host also sang about Trump's continued Epstein drama and his late night interests in the song below.
Comedy Central seems to have gotten the last laugh — so far, at least — on the whole debacle. The AI-segment seen 'round the world this week came courtesy of 'South Park,' who delivered perhaps the most blistering satire of President Donald Trump yet. This came just hours after the series closed a deal with Paramount to continue for another five years, and just a day before the Justice Department approved the merger. The Wednesday, July 23 episode of 'South Park' also spoke quite literally to the Skydance deal in a scene involving none other than Jesus Christ.
'You guys saw what happened to CBS,' Christ mutters through gritted teeth. 'Well guess who owns CBS? Paramount! You really want to end up like Colbert?
Then on July 25, former 'Late Show' legend David Letterman, Colbert's predecessor, chimed in on his YouTube channel.
'I don't think it was money… it was pure cowardice,' Letterman said, going on to praise 'precise, crisp, witty political satirist' Colbert. He then addressed CBS/Paramount's decision, saying 'What the fuck is Skydance, honest to Christ? Is it a discount airline? Is that what it is? I think one day, if not today, the people at CBS, who have manipulated and handled this are going to be embarrassed because this is this is gutless. I only wish this could happen to me… Fighting with network television management was number one in the playbook.'
But no one went harder on Paramount than Colbert himself. In its statements discussing 'The Late Show' cancellation, Paramount repeatedly made mention of the show's $40 million annual losses. This figure has been questioned, and it was a number referenced repeatedly by Colbert all week.
'I could see us losing $24 million, but where could Paramount have possibly spent the other 16… Oh yeah,' he said on the July 21 episode.
In the July 23 episode, he referenced how Trump claimed that CBS/Paramount would be providing another $20 million a year in administration-approved airtime.
'By bending the knee, they lost like $40 million this year,' Colbert said. 'They better watch out. They might get canceled for purely financial reasons.'
This was just the tip of the iceberg for Colbert. It almost seems as if the stalwart late night presence is daring CBS to cancel him before May 2026, an idea also postured this week by Time. Certainly his tone was not one that sounds… uh, let's say copasetic, with his employers.
But you be the judge. What's Colbert's game? Here's a few of his daring comments from the week's shows, mined from his full monologues:
'Over the weekend it sunk in that they're killing off our show. But they made one mistake: They left me alive!'
'All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't hide who Dumpty humped with his friend.'
'It's not a great look when you fly on the pedophile's plane enough times to earn diamond pervert status.'
'What are you gonna tell me next — that the Pope is in the Catholic files? That a bear is on the cover of this month's Modern Woods Pooper?'
And of course, he did also say succinctly, 'The President was buddies with a pedophile.'
The gloves certainly are off.
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