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US Senator alleges CBS canceled Stephen Colbert's show due to a Trump factor
Stephen Colbert's show cancellation raises eyebrows after CBS' parent company, Paramount,'s $16 million settlement with Trump.
CBS’s surprise announcement that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will end in May 2026 has sparked serious backlash. “THE LATE SHOW with STEPHEN COLBERT will end its historic run in May 2026 at the end of the broadcast season,” the platform confirmed.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren alleges that the decision to cancel the show may have had less to do with programming changes and more to do with politics.
“CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that looks like bribery,” Warren wrote.
“America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.”
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Paramount settles with Trump for $16 million
Notably, the controversy centers on a recently revealed $16 million settlement between Paramount Global, CBS’s parent company, and President Donald Trump. The settlement stems from a 60 Minutes segment that aired last fall featuring Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Trump sued over how the interview was edited. The settlement, quietly announced on 1 July.
During his first monologue back from vacation, Stephen Colbert told his audience, “I am offended.”
“I don’t know if anything — anything — will repair my trust in this company. But, just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would help.” He also quipped that the deal was a “big fat bribe.”
Stewart condemns CBS settling with Trump
Fellow comedian Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show, also denounced the deal earlier, and called it a “shameful settlement.”
“I would assume internally, this is devastating to the people who work in a place that pride themselves on contextual, good journalism?” he expressed. "
Both Colbert and Stewart work under the Paramount umbrella, CBS and Comedy Central.
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Interestingly, Paramount is in the process of being sold to Skydance Media, a deal that would require regulatory approval from the Biden administration. Critics argue that settling Trump’s lawsuit could help smooth the path for that sale.
