CBS to end ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’

'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' during Wednesday’s June 25, 2025 show. Photo: Scott Kowalchyk ©2025 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Preview:

CBS is ending ‘The Late Show’ next year.
Host Stephen Colbert announced the shock news at a taping on Thursday.
The President has already hit social media with his delight.

In a shocking announcement during a taping on the show on Thursday this week, ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s host announced that corporate overlords CBS had decided to end the show next year.

TV-PG10 SeasonsSeptember 8th, 2015

This was the statement on decision from Paramount co-CEO and CBS president and CEO George Cheeks, CBS Entertainment head Amy Reisenbach and CBS Studios president David Stapf:

“ ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ will end its historic run in May 2026 at the end of the broadcast season. We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire The Late Show franchise at that time. We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television. This is 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.”

What could really be behind the cancellation?

'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' during Monday’s July 14, 2025 show. Photo: Scott Kowalchyk ©2025 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Though the CBS teams were at pains to stress the reasons for the move, the optics on the decision are not great for the company.

Especially since Colbert has been vocal on the show about his thoughts regarding CBS’ settlement with President Trump in order to facilitate forward movement on its merger with David Ellison’s Skydance company.

And while the financial fortunes of all the late night shows have suffered and traditional networks are tightening their belts in the age of streaming, it’s a particularly bad look at a time when companies have been under attack.

Colbert has –– at least for now, assuming the show doesn’t end earlier than announced –– a chance to make his thoughts very clear in the wake of the cancellation decision.

What were the reactions to the news?

'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' and guest Sen. Adam Schiff during Thursday’s July 17, 2025 show. Photo: Scott Kowalchyk ©2025 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

President Trump naturally took to social media to offer his gleeful response to the cancellation of one of the people who have taken a stand against him:

“I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!”

Kimmel for his part, had a funny, bittersweet post lambasting CBS for the decision, writing in an Instagram story:

“Love you Stephen. F**k you and all your Sheldons CBS.”

When will ‘The Late Show’ end?

As of right now, the show is scheduled to come to an end in May 2026.

What will be shown in its place? That’s anyone’s guess at this point, but given the increasingly troubled viewership figures for late night shows, we may well end up with repeats or other series.