By Katherine Tinsley
10:56am PDT, Jul 23, 2025
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CBS said the move was "purely a financial decision," but
Stephen Colbert and other late-night hosts have questioned the logic considering the show's high ratings. They've been vocal about their disappointment in the news, which came just days after Colbert criticized CBS' parent company, Paramount, for
their controversial settlement with
Donald Trump. "You would not believe how
Stephen Colbert and his buddy
Jon Stewart responded to his cancellation," Megyn Kelly said on her "The Megyn Kelly" show. "Cry me a river. Would you grow up, you children? Put on your big boy pants and take it like a man. This is absurd."
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Megyn Kelly's NBC show was notoriously canceled after she made controversial comments downplaying the harm of wearing blackface as part of a Halloween costume. "Many of us have had very public cancelations and some were absolutely brutal. And we didn't invite all our friends to come cry on the set and say, 'Poor poor her. Poor poor him. American democracy will not be the same,'" she said. "Some of us took it like professionals, then picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off, and moved on with life. Is this how it's going to be for the next year? Watching this crybaby try to play the victim that his show got canceled? Grow up," she declared. "It's called television, you toddler."
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Stephen Colbert slammed Donald Trump after the president celebrated CBS pulling the plug on his show. "How dare you," he said in reference to Trump's celebratory Truth Social post. "How dare you, sir. Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism?" The comedian then looked directly into a camera and told the president, "Go f*** yourself."
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CBS didn't mention Paramount's $16 million settlement with Donald Trump in their announcement about canceling
The Late Show, but comedian Jon Stewart speculated that
Stephen Colbert's criticism of the president played a role in it. "So here's the point: If you're trying to figure out why Stephen's show is ending, I don't think the answer can be found in some smoking gun email or phone call from Trump to CBS executives or in CBS QuickBooks spreadsheets on the financial health of late night," Stewart said. "I think the answer is in the fear and pre-compliance that is gripping all of America's institutions at this very moment, institutions that have chosen not to fight the vengeful and vindictive actions of
our p**** hair-doodling commander in chief."
