18-07-2025
Stephen Colbert announces 'Late Show' end as CBS blames finances
1 of 5 | Stephen Colbert, seen with wife Evelyn McGee-Colbert at the 2024 Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, announced Thursday that CBS has decided to end "The Late Show." File Photo by Chris Chew. | License Photo
July 17 (UPI) -- Stephen Colbert announced at the taping of Thursday's The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that the show will end after the 2025-26 season. Colbert said he found out last night.
"The network will be ending The Late Show in May," Colbert says in a video shared to his Colbertlateshow and Stephenathome Instagrams.
As the audience booed, Colbert agreed, "Yeah, I share your feelings. It's not just the end of our show but it's the end of The Late Show on CBS. I am not being replaced. This is all just going away."
Colbert took over The Late Show in 2015 after David Letterman, who launched the show in 1993.
In a statement Thursday, Paramount Global Co-CEO and CBS President and CEO George Cheeks, CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach and CBS Studios President David Stapf blamed the financial challenges of late night.
"We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire The Late Show franchise," the statement read. "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."
In the clip, Colbert thanked CBS for being "great partners," as well as the audience and his band. He lamented the end of the talk show.
"It is a fantastic job," Colbert said. "I wish somebody else was getting it. It's a job that I'm looking forward to doing with this usual gang of idiots for the next 10 months."
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. EDT on CBS.
