It was announced that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert would be ending in May, days after he called CBS out in settling their lawsuit with Trump. Anyone who thinks this is a coincidence, I have a bridge to sell you. Not only is Colbert leaving the network, the show isn’t getting a new host. It’s just completely being wiped from their schedule. Here’s what Stephen had to say about it on the show last night:
The Late Show first aired in 1993 with David Letterman. It’s an institution that I never expected to see end, especially not in this way. This isn’t the first time a news outlet has bent over backwards to satisfy Daddy Trump, but it is a major look at the potential death of free speech as we know it. People often misunderstand what that particular constitutional freedom means, but it is specifically meant to protect the government from silencing us. Now yes, CBS is a private corporation that can do whatever it wants with its money, but this is clearly politically motivated. They claim it’s about finances, but who is buying that? The Late Show is one of their highest rated shows and just got nominated for an Emmy (which I briefly talked about a few days ago). If anything, losing Colbert is also going to lose them income. It’s not remotely believable that finances are a motivating factor here.
The fact of the matter is that CBS needs Colbert more than Colbert needs him. I’m sure MSNBC or Netflix or someone will scoop him up real quick. Or he probably has the money and clout to just start his own YouTube channel. Or he can go the Jim Acosta route and create a Substack to do livestreams from. There are plenty of options to keep him busy and in our feeds.
I think CBS is quickly going to realize they made a big mistake. Will that be enough for them to reverse course? Only time will tell. I worry that they’ll have trouble doing it in a way where they can save face. I think they just backed themselves into an impossible corner to escape from. I also fear that this is only the first chink in our freedoms. What’s to stop The Daily Show from being canceled next, or Last Week Tonight. If every corporation is afraid to anger Trump, the only way to protect these shows is to make a strong showing here that it would hurt their wallets more than they can afford. Everyone needs to yell at CBS and tell them you will not stand for this. Otherwise I fear this is only the start of a rolling darkness looking to snuff out the light of Democracy for good.
CBS form to contact them can be found here: https://www.cbs.com/showfeedback/