Fans packed the sidewalks outside the Ed Sullivan Theater in Manhattan on Thursday to say goodbye to Stephen Colbert. Supporters held handmade signs reading “thank you Stephen” ahead of the final taping of The Late Show. The broadcast airs at 11:35 p.m. EDT, permanently closing out CBS’s 33-year late-night comedy franchise.
The host is leaving the desk under a heavy cloud of political and financial controversy. CBS executives insist axing original late-night programming is strictly a cost-saving measure. Critics tell a different story. The cancellation arrived shortly after Colbert attacked CBS parent company Paramount Global on the air. He openly mocked the company’s $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump over an edited Kamala Harris interview, calling the payout a “big fat bribe.”
Industry insiders suspect the sudden cancellation was a direct concession to the administration to secure regulatory approval for Paramount’s $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media, according to a CP24 report detailing the political fallout and the resulting network tributes.
CBS is walking away from the traditional late-night format entirely. The network will hand the 11:35 p.m. slot over to Byron Allen’s non-political syndicated rerun series Comics Unleashed. The 12:35 a.m. slot will go to the syndicated game show Funny You Should Ask, as outlined in a KHOU breakdown of CBS ending the franchise to air cheaper syndicated shows.
Rival hosts put competition aside for the finale. Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver appeared together in a joint tribute during Colbert’s final stretch. On Thursday night, multiple competing late-night shows chose to air reruns rather than broadcast new episodes against Colbert’s final hour.
The final week of tapings featured appearances by Bruce Springsteen, Jon Stewart, and former host David Letterman. Staffers planned an afterparty for the final taping with a highly specific theme: “Fired and festive!”
Colbert already lined up his next job. He will write the script for Peter Jackson’s upcoming Lord of the Rings film, officially titled Shadow of the Past.