The Late Show With Stephen Colbert is coming to an end. The beloved talk show host announced the news during tonight’s taping, revealing that CBS is eliminating the entire late-night franchise due to a “financial decision.” The finale will arrive in May 2026.
The Late Show began with David Letterman in 1993, with Colbert taking over in 2015. “I’m not being replaced, this is all just going away,” Colbert said during tonight's episode. CBS executives shared a statement:
We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire The Late Show franchise in May of 2026. 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.
There has been speculation about Colbert possibly facing scrutiny from executives at Skydance Media — which is in the process of acquiring Paramount Global, the parent of CBS — due to its CEO David Ellison seemingly being buddy-buddy with Donald Trump, who Colbert is known to frequently criticize.
This obviously sucks for musicians. Earlier this year Wednesday, Scowl, and Model/Actriz made their TV debuts on Colbert! Sad times.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMOhWKsxT_G/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading
Here's Colbert on July 14 making fun of Paramount for paying Trump $16 million. It's hard not to see CBS canceling his show through this lens.
"I believe this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles. It's big fat bribe."
— Matt Novak (@paleofuture.bsky.social) July 17, 2025 at 7:39 PM
