It was shocking news: Thursday, CBS announced that it was cancelling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, effective at the end of the show’s upcoming season.

Not only did the network ax Colbert, but the show itself is being retired after 33 years on the air. David Letterman hosted the late-night gabfest when the show debuted in 1993. Colbert took over as host in 2015.

CBS was quick to give a reason for the cancellation that didn’t involve Colbert’s frequent criticism of the current administration. Executives said in a statement that the cancellation was “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.”

CBS continued, “our admiration, affection and respect for the talents of Stephen Colbert and his incredible team made this agonizing decision even more difficult.”

But it’s impossible to ignore the fact that CBS’ parent company Paramount is trying to close a merger with movie studio Skydance, a move that must be approved by the FCC – and that same administration that Colbert gleefully skewers in every opening monologue. After all, Paramount already caved into a Trump administration demand for a $16 million settlement in a lawsuit he filed in 2024.

Then-candidate Trump claimed that minor, routine edits to an interview with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris on the venerable newsmagazine show 60 Minutes somehow caused him harm. As a reminder, Harris did not win the presidential election that followed the interview.

While broadcast television networks have been struggling to compete with the myriad other forms of entertainment available to audiences, The Late Show has topped the ratings in the late-night time period for nine straight seasons.

Earlier in the week the Emmys had only three nominations for best talk show because of the dearth of submissions. Six years ago, the category had double the number of nominees. But The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was one of the three.

Colbert announced the news at the taping for Thursday’s show, and on Instagram. When the audience loudly booed the announcement, Colbert said, “Yeah, I share your feelings.”

Jon Stewart, Colbert’s former colleague on The Daily Show, the satiric news program on Comedy Central, acknowledged that his show, also under the Paramount umbrella, could face be facing cancellation as well. Both Stewart and Colbert have been openly critical of Paramount’s capitulation to/settlement with the Trump administration.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will be signing off for good in May of 2026.