Free Republic

Stephen Colbert’s Late Show overwhelmingly catered to left-wing audiences, functioning more as a partisan “therapy” outlet than a comedy program, according to a new study from media watchdog NewsBusters. Since 2022, Colbert hosted 176 left-leaning guests and just one Republican — former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), a vocal critic of President Donald Trump. In 2025 alone, The Late Show featured 43 left-leaning guests and zero conservatives, according to the analysis. “Colbert’s show has been late-night group therapy for liberals,” NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck told New York Post. “Americans have continually shown they no longer have the time or patience...

David Letterman has backed his successor Stephen Colbert and suggested CBS canceled The Late Show because he was 'always shooting his mouth off' about Donald Trump. The 78-year-old late-night legend created The Late Show in 1993 after NBC denied him the chance to succeed Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. Colbert took over for Letterman in 2015 and took the show in a decidedly more political direction but despite leading in the ratings, a shrinking late-night landscape led CBS to claim losses in the tens of millions of dollars. In his first comment on the show's cancellation, Letterman noted that...

“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...

"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."...

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.

Comedian Jon Stewart tore into CBS on Monday for canceling “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert, which the network described as a “financial” decision. Stewart, during the latest episode of “The Daily Show,” defended his friend and raised the possibility that the move could be an effort to appease President Trump, who has railed against Colbert at times on social media. “Watching Stephen exceed all expectations in the role and become the number one late-night show on television has been an undeniable great pleasure for me as a viewer and as his friend, and now Stephen has been canceled for...

After announcing the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, CBS is hard at work searching for a better program to replace their old flagship. Here are ten great ideas that would be way better than The Late Show:Larry The Dying Leper: This show is just watching a man slowly die of leprosy. Way funnier!Kidney Stone Watch: 90 straight minutes of a dude trying to pass a kidney stone.That old "KaBoom" infomercial with Billy Mays on loop: Such a classic.Cemetery Cam: Nothing but a livestream from a camera at a cemetery. Big upgrade, CBS.The Ingrown Toenail Experience: Way less...

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...

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.”

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said the public "deserves to know" whether CBS’s decision to cancel "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on Thursday was politically motivated. "Just finished taping with Stephen Colbert who announced his show was cancelled. If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better," Schiff wrote.

CBS announced the cancellation of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert - just days after the host blasted the network's $16 million settlement with President Trump as a 'big fat bribe.' Colbert's show, which began in 2015, will now come to an end in May 2026, executives with the network and Paramount, its new parent company, announced on Thursday. 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will end its historic run in May 2026 at the end of the broadcast season,' they said in a statement. 'We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire the Late Show franchise at that time,'...

In a shocking move, CBS is ending “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” next year, potentially exiting the late-night television business altogether. The cancellation will take effect in May 2026, the normal end of the broadcast TV season, the network said Thursday evening.

CBS' "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" will be ending in 2026, the network announced Thursday. "'THE LATE SHOW with STEPHEN COLBERT' will end its historic run in May 2026 at the end of the broadcast season," CBS said in a statement. "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." CBS said it was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night," adding, "It is...

"CBS has announced that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will end in May 2026, bringing the show’s historic run—and the Late Show franchise itself—to a close."Colbert addressed the show’s cancellation himself while taping tonight’s show."

CBS‘ Late Show will be on an unplanned post-Thanksgiving hiatus after host Stephen Colbert says he is recovering after surgery for a ruptured appendix. Colbert shared the news on Instagram’s Threads service. “Sorry to say that I have to cancel our shows this week,” the statement begins. “I’m sure you’re thinking, ‘Turkey overdose, Steve? Gravy boat capsize?’ Actually, I’m recovering from surgery for a ruptured appendix. I’m grateful to my doctors for their care and to Evie and the kids for putting up with me. Going forward, all emails to my appendix will be handled by my pancreas.”