Posted on 05/21/2026 1:47:40 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Springsteen performed his ICE protest song 'Streets of Minneapolis' during Colbert's penultimate episode yesterday (May 20)
Bruce Springsteen has hailed Stephen Colbert as “the first guy in America who lost his show because we got a president who can’t take a joke”.
Read More: ‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere’ review: a bruising boss of a biopic The Boss appeared as a musical guest on the Late Night legend’s penultimate episode yesterday (20 May). Colbert has hosted the show since 2015, and his final week has featured guests such as David Byrne, Jon Stewart and Steven Spielberg.
Though CBS have stated the show has been cancelled for “financial reasons”, there has been speculation that Late Night was axed for political reasons. Colbert has been an outspoken critic of Trump since his initial inauguration in 2016.
Now, Springsteen – another vocal critic of the president – has hit out again at Trump during his performance of ICE protest song ‘Streets of Minneapolis’ on Colbert’s show.
“I’m here in support tonight for Stephen, because you are the first guy in America who lost his show because we got a president who can’t take a joke… and because Larry and David Ellison feel they need to kiss his ass to get what they want,” Springsteen said.
“Stephen, these are small-minded people,” he added. “They got no idea what the freedoms of this beautiful country are supposed to be about.”
Trump publicly responded to the news of Late Night‘s cancellation at the time, writing: “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!”
Colbert hit back at the President on his next show, feigning outrage and saying: “How dare you, sir? Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism?”.
Turning to a camera marked “Eloquence Cam”, Colbert deadpanned in a New York accent: “Go fuck yourself”.
Colbert hasn’t just criticised Trump – he’s also spoken out against CBS’ parent company Paramount’s decision to settle a lawsuit with Trump for $16million (£12million).
The lawsuit was filed over claims that CBS News deceptively edited an interview with Trump’s 2024 election rival Kamala Harris.
Meanwhile, Springsteen has been involved in multiple heated disputed with Trump himself, in which he has called for the POTUS to be impeached and “consigned to the trash heap of history”. He has also previously described the president as “corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous”.
In response, Trump has branded The Boss as a “pushy, obnoxious JERK” and a “dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker”.
Springsteen also used his first tour date to criticise Trump and the actions of ICE following the killing of two of the city’s citizens – Renee Good and Alex Pretti. He also claimed that US citizens were “living through some very dark times” as the “American values that have sustained us for 250 years are being challenged as never before.”
Meanwhile, the White House slammed Springsteen’s tour before it had even commenced, with Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung saying: “When this loser Springsteen comes back home to his own City of Ruins in his head, he’ll realise his Glory Days are behind him and his fans have left him Out in the Street, putting him in a Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out because he has a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his brain”.
Elsewhere, Bruce Springsteen has made a powerful statement after an assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
It’s Colbert who can’t take a joke - he can dish it out but goes all whimpery when it comes back to him.
Jokes? When were there jokes?
Bwucie just can’t keep his big mouth shut.
Wait, Colbert could tell jokes? Who knew?
Hmmm Roseanne Barr enters the chat….
Dancing in the dark Bruce.
Smothers Brothers too...
Pat Paulsen - “I’ve upped my standards, now up yours.”
Weird ear Colbert, so funny he never made a single joke about the magic kneegro or the mentally challenged biden. Yea he’s one funny guy. Funny hmmm.
Exact. That loser Colbert lost his show because (1) He wasn’t funny (2) His ratings sucked and (3) He was costing CBS a boatload of money.
And yet Kimmell is still on. And I’m sure Fallon isn’t exactly Trump-friendly neither.
What a dumb empty chair.
Colbert was fired because he was a net loss. An unfunny net loss. Go woke, go broke.
CC
Doesn’t a “joke” have to actually be funny to be considered a joke?
>>”I don’t think for a minute Colbert would be cancelled if he was making CBS money.”
Actually I think Trump prolonged his career by a number of years. If Colbert had simply been apolitical, he would have been fired long ago over his poor ratings. Criticizing Trump actually gave him protection.
If Springsteen’s “The Boss”, then he’s a perfect example of the Peter Principle.
It is really very simple.
Colbert thought that half the country as potential viewers was enough. If they REALLY REALLY loved him because he bashed Trump, they would watch his show. He was wrong on both counts.
He wasn’t that funny, even when doing his left wing schtick. They didn’t love him. They didn’t watch. In the key demographic of adults aged 18-49, it averaged 233,000 viewers.
It cost about $8.3 million per month, or a little over $2 million per week. That works out to $8.54 per viewer.
Marshalls is the top show right now. It costs about $8 million per episode. It averages, in first run, about 8.6 million viewers per episode, working out to a little less than $1 per viewer.
Historically, when broadcast TV was in it’s heyday, that price per viewer would be in the realm of $.10 per viewer for a decently performing show.
Anyway, Colbert costs ten times as much per viewer as the top rated show. No advertiser would pay the rate they REALLY need to break even.
Thus Colbert is done.
I think they are letting him go not because Trump can’t take a joke but because they are losing a fortune
Bookmark.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.