Free Republic

The media conglomerate Paramount announced Wednesday afternoon that the creators of “South Park” had agreed to produce 50 new episodes over the next five years in a deal reportedly valued at $1.5 billion. Ten hours later, “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker excoriated Paramount — and aggressively skewered President Donald Trump — in the premiere episode of the Comedy Central show’s 27th season. In the episode, Trump (voiced by Stone) sues the town of South Park for $5 billion after they challenge Jesus Christ’s presence in their elementary school. The townspeople are prepared to fight back, but Jesus...

"The Late Show" wasn't just a platform for Democrats under Stephen Colbert's tenure, it was also one for left-wing journalists and hosts. Fox News Digital has counted at least 200 episodes of "The Late Show" that featured members of the liberal media. The far-left politics of "The Late Show" have been facing scrutiny after CBS announced last week that it was pulling the plug on Colbert's program, which will officially wrap up in May 2026. According to IMDB search results, CNN anchor and "60 Minutes" correspondent Anderson Cooper holds the record with 20 formal guest appearances on "The Late Show."...

“Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary on Tuesday defended President Trump against Stephen Colbert’s criticism following CBS’s announcement that it would end “The Late Show” next year. “Only a moron would tell the president to F off before he gets his check,” O’Leary said during an appearance on CNN’s “NewsNight with Abby Phillip.” Colbert responded to Trump’s celebration of his show’s end on Monday’s episode, after the president said he was glad the comedian was fired and that he has no talent. “How dare you, sir,” he said. “Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism: ‘Go...

Skydance Media needs the approval of President Donald Trump’s Federal Communications Commission in order to take over Paramount Global. It’s now promising to root out “bias” at CBS News in order to get it. In a pair of letters filed Tuesday with the FCC, Skydance committed to a post-merger “comprehensive review of CBS,” including a promise to install an ombudsman to evaluate complaints of “bias or other concerns” at the news network and report their findings to the new Paramount’s president. Skydance also committed to eliminating Paramount’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices at the entertainment giant once it takes over....

“CBS Mornings” co-host Tony Dokoupil defended his bosses at the Tiffany Network for axing Stephen Colbert’s show — while also taking aim at Jon Stewart for alleging there was a political motive in making the cost-cutting move. Dokoupil, who was famously upbraided by management for a tense on-air debate with author Ta-Nehisi Coates over his book critical of Israel, broke with his co‑hosts on Tuesday to blame Colbert’s “one-sided” commentary for his own cancellation. Dokoupil said on Tuesday that “no one seems to acknowledge” that “the politics has also changed” in recent years and that Colbert “got way more one-sided...

Colbert killed comedy. Then comedy killed his show.The Late Show was born out of the desperation of CBS executives to poach David Letterman. Johnny Carson had decided to bring his unchallenged reign over late night to an end. The future of the Tonight Show was up between Jay Leno, a hard-working comic, and Letterman, the darling of media types in New York, who had the hip alternative Late Night show. NBC settled on Leno, who underwent the first of a series of bastings by the chattering classes for upstaging one of their favorite cringe comics, while CBS created the Late...

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday he had reached a settlement with CBS and Paramount triggered by a 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. 'We have just achieved a BIG AND IMPORTANT WIN in our Historic Lawsuit against 60 Minutes, CBS, and Paramount,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'Just like ABC and George Slopadopoulos, CBS and its Corporate Owners knew that they defrauded the American People, and were desperate to settle.' Trump said that Paramount/CBS/60 Minutes paid $16 million in the settlement and anticipated an additional $20 million from the new owners of CBS in advertising, PSAs or similar...

President Donald Trump crowed over the settlement in his lawsuit against “60 Minutes,” CBS, and Paramount on Tuesday — which stemmed from a selectively edited interview of former Vice President Kamala Harris — calling it a “BIG AND IMPORTANT WIN!” Trump first shared the news in a post on his Truth Social platform, where he also took aim at ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos over their recent payout in a similar lawsuit. “BREAKING NEWS! We have just achieved a BIG AND IMPORTANT WIN in our Historic Lawsuit against 60 Minutes, CBS, and Paramount,” Trump posted. “Just like ABC and...

Stephen Colbert declared to Donald Trump that “the gloves are off” in his first broadcast since his Late Show was cancelled amid a political firestorm, as his fellow hosts lined up to defend him with Jon Stewart scathingly denouncing Paramount for trying to “censor and control” its hosts. Colbert, the top-rated late-night talk show host in the US, said last week on his CBS show Late Night – which he took over from David Letterman in 2015 – that Paramount’s decision to pay a $16m settlement to Trump over another flagship CBS show, 60 Minutes, amounted to a “big fat...

Stephen Colbert called himself a 'martyr' before firing off a crude message to Donald Trump, warning 'the gloves are off' after the president gloated over The Late Show’s cancellation. The comedian's decade-long run as the host of CBS' late night flagship will end next May, with network insiders suggesting the top-rated show was canceled because it was losing anywhere from $40 to $100million per year.

On Saturday's edition of MSNBC's The Weekend, former NPR president and CEO Vivian Schiller, commenting on the cancellation of Stephen Colbert's show, said: "Stephen Colbert is unafraid to speak truth to power. He does it in a very bipartisan way over the years. And comedy and parody is [sic] an important part of a democratic ecosystem. " Yes, so bipartisan that, as NewsBuster Alex Christy has reported, in the first half of 2025, Colbert hosted 14 partisan officials, more than any of the other daily late-night comedy shows. All 14 were Democrats, none were Republicans. When it came to journalists...

“So, for the first time in history, Americans have stopped watching NBC, CBS TV, and ABC,” reported commentator Bill O’Reilly Thursday. “Their viewing level has fallen below 20 percent — unheard of.”“And it’s because they’re boring and they’re far left,” O’Reilly elaborated. “That’s the two reasons.”The latest casualty of this legacy-media collapse is notable, too.CBS is canceling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, effective after the 2025-’26 season.The move will end what will have been a 33-year run that began with host David Letterman in 1993. Colbert took the show’s helm in 2015, shortly after Letterman’s retirement.The news-making announcement has...

Stephen Colbert was receiving messages of support and affection from his fellow late-night hosts after announcing that CBS was canceling his show, “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” next May. Jimmy Fallon said he was “just as shocked as everyone,” and Seth Meyers called him a great host and comedian but an even better person. Jimmy Kimmel directed an expletive at CBS, and Andy Cohen said it was a sad day for the network. As for President Donald Trump — a frequent target of Colbert’s comedy — he said on Truth Social that “I absolutely love” that Colbert was “fired.”...

CBS brass say they pulled the plug on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” because of its punishing losses — pegged between $40 million and $50 million a year — and claim politics had nothing to do with it. The 61-year-old host got canned just days after he took a dig at the Tiffany Network over its $16 million settlement with Donald Trump over a controversial “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris as the network’s parent Paramount negotiates with the Trump administration regulatory approval for its $8 billion sale to independent studio Skydance. “I am offended, and I don’t know...

The news of “The Late Show’s” cancellation by CBS doesn’t just end a franchise that had, to this point, lasted more than 30 years. It looks like the beginning of the end of an entire category of television. With one network now opting out of late-night talk entirely, how long will it be before the genre just goes away? CBS announced the cancellation nearly a full year before it is to take effect, making current host Stephen Colbert a lame duck of sorts; he will continue hosting the show through May 2026, at which point it will simply disappear. Observers...

CBS canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert because it was losing $40 million a year, it was claimed. Puck journalist Matthew Belloni revealed Colbert's astonishing lack of profitability Friday, hours after CNN first broke the news that the show was canceled because it was in the red. Belloni outlined how The Late Show - whose cancelation was announced Thursday - costs $100m a year to produce, with Colbert, 61, getting paid between $15 million and $20 million a year to host.

Paramount, the network’s parent, recently agreed to pay President Trump $16 million to settle his lawsuit over the editing of an interview on the CBS News program “60 Minutes.”Democratic lawmakers are questioning the timing of CBS’s announcement to cancel “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” which came days after Mr. Colbert criticized the network’s parent company for paying President Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit.Hours after CBS executives characterized the move as “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night,” lawmakers began suggesting that the cancellation was linked to Paramount’s recent settlement with Mr. Trump. Senator...

A staple of late night television is going off the air for good. CBS and Stephen Colbert broke the news Thursday that the next season of ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ will be its last. It will not return with a new host, either. “We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire ‘THE LATE SHOW’ franchise at that time,” wrote CBS. “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.” The Associated Press reports the announcement came three days after Colbert spoke out...

Back in June 2022, I joined the ranks of the many conservatives who looked at late-night network television, with its tired “clap-ter” and heavy-handed cheerleading for Democratic politicians, and asked just how many people actually enjoyed watching it. Never mind the now-regular softball interviews with Democratic elected officials or the exhausted “aren’t Republicans so dumb and evil” monologue jokes, the whole thing felt stale, rote, and joyless. Viewership has plummeted across the board for network television in the streaming era, and you figure the market for the likes of Stephen Colbert offering variations of the same jokes night after night...

A slew of famous faces shared their outrage at the show’s cancellation. Actor Adam Scott wrote on Instagram: “Love you Stephen. This is absolute bulls**t, and I for one am looking forward to the next 10 months of shows.” Actress Rachel Zegler added: “I am extremely sad. i adore you, stephen,” and broadcaster Katie Couric penned: “I am so upset about this. I need more information. We love you ” Director Judd Apatow posted: “My admiration and appreciation for you is bottomless. Excited to see what other brilliance you put into the world.”