Paramount claims that it’s cancelling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and ending the entire The Late Show franchise for “financial reasons.” In his earnest opening monologue tonight, Colbert took no shots and made no jokes as he asked his fans to think of those “financial reasons” as people: his hundred-plus crew.
Over the last month, The Late Show’s final host Colbert has been a passionate and articulate critic of his parent company Paramount and its open bribery of President Donald Trump, pending his approval on the media giant’s $6 billion sale to David Ellison’s company Skydance Media. Insiders have predicted that both Colbert and his old Daily Show boss Jon Stewart are likely political casualties of Skydance’s attempt at a takeover as Paramount and all its channels continue to eliminate critics of President Trump while the parent company pays out nine-figure sums to the Commander-in-Chief.
Colbert, who has been launching nightly attacks on the Paramount brass as they continue the process of dismantling both the late-night genre and journalism itself in order to curry favor with the President and his FCC, used the heartbreaking announcement as an opportunity to remind his fans that The Late Show is an entire community of creatives and technical professionals whom he was lucky enough to lead for the last decade.
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“This is a fantastic job,” Colbert mournfully declared. “I wish somebody else was getting it!”
Over the next 10 months, The Late Show viewers will undoubtedly hear Colbert’s full thoughts on the matter of his pink slip and the end of the late-night cornerstone once made great by the legendary David Letterman. But, tonight, as he and all of his Late Show coworkers grapple with the news that they will be left jobless in 10 months’ time, Colbert handled this low point in the history of comedy with courage, respect and aplomb.
Earlier this week, Colbert tore his bosses at Paramount apart over their move to pay Trump $16 million to drop his bogus lawsuit against 60 Minutes, calling the settlement “a big fat bribe.” “As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I am offended, and I don’t know if anything will ever repair my trust in this company,” Colbert continued.
But tonight’s Late Show wasn’t the time for harsh words and condemnations — the 32-year-old late-night show’s legacy is too immense to be overshadowed by Paramount’s cowardice, Skydance’s sycophancy and Trump’s fascistic attacks on freedom of speech and the free press. Tonight, The Late Show and its fans will grieve for its impending execution. Tomorrow, Paramount and Skydance better brace themselves for 45 straight minutes of fury, and for whatever bullshit lawsuit Trump launches at them in response.
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