By Katherine Tinsley
3:14pm PDT, Jul 23, 2025
_
David Letterman showed his support for
Stephen Colbert after CBS announced that the network in canceling
The Late Show, which the older comedian hosted before passing the baton to the former
The Colbert Report star.
Keep reading for the details…
MORE:
Follow Wonderwall on MSN for more top news
_
David Letterman, who left
The Late Show in 2015, maintained ownership of the show's footage as part of his exit package. He took to YouTube to share a compilation video of himself cracking jokes at CBS' expense over the years. "You can't spell CBS without BS," he captioned the video titled "
CBS: The Tiffany Network."
_
In a monologue, Stephen Colbert shared his disappointment in the network's decision to not only fire him but also to end The Late Show franchise. "It is a fantastic job. I wish somebody else was getting it," the comedian said while noting he was blindsided by the news. "I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners," he added. "I'm so grateful to the Tiffany Network for giving me this chair and this beautiful theater to call home."
_
There has been speculation surrounding CBS' decision to pull the plug on The Late Show because they made the announcement days after Stephen Colbert shamed parent company Paramount for settling their controversial lawsuit with Donald Trump. However, the network never mentioned the president in their announcement. "This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night," CBS Studios President David Stapf, CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach, and CBS President and CEO George Cheeks stressed in a joint statement. "It is not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount."
_
While CBS hinted at The Late Show being too expensive to run, Stephen Colbert noted that Paramount was able to give $16 million to Donald Trump as part of their settlement. "Over the weekend, somebody at CBS followed up their gracious press release with a gracious anonymous leak saying they pulled the plug on our show because of losses pegged between $40 million and $50 million a year," Colbert said. "$40 million is a big number. I could see us losing $24 million, but where would Paramount have possibly spent the other $16 million? Oh, yeah," he joked.
_
Jon Stewart has also been vocal about CBS' decision to axe Stephen Colbert's popular iteration of
The Late Show. "My God, when CDs stopped selling, they didn't just go, 'Oh well, music, it's been a good run.' The fact that CBS didn't try to save their No. 1-rated network late-night franchise that's been on the air for over three decades is part of what's making everybody wonder, was this purely financial, or maybe the path of least resistance for your $8 billion merger?" Stewart said on
The Daily Show in reference to Skydance's pending acquisition of Paramount.
