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As talk show host Stephen Colbert prepares to depart from his show, he condemned President Donald Trump during a Tuesday interview with The New York Times.
CBS announced in July that it had canceled “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and that it would officially go off the air in May 2026. Liberal critics have accused CBS and Paramount of ending the show to appease Trump and receive approval for a long-planned merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media.
Colbert spoke out about the saga in a New York Times interview headlined, “Stephen Colbert Gets Ready to Hang It Up.” When asked by the Times why the FCC and Trump administration are “focused” on him, Colbert argued this is simply authoritarians being authoritarians.
“Authoritarians don’t like anybody who doesn’t give them undue dignity. Comedians are anti-authoritarian by nature. And authoritarians are never going to like anybody to laugh at them,” he said. “The number of newspeople who have said to me or Jon Stewart or any of the guys who do this, ‘God, I wish I could say what you say on air.’ And we can.”
Stephen Colbert argued to the New York Times that, if anything, accusing late-night talk shows of being partisan is just “roughing the ref.” (Scott Kowalchyk/CBS)
“I think that upsets them,” he added further. “I think it might be upsetting that we really do not live in their world of principalities and powers.”
The New York Times interviewer suggested that Colbert is one of many late-night hosts who “have become political targets,” and went on to ask, “Given how partisan late night has become, do you have any regrets that it’s gotten to this point?”
“I don’t have any problem with Trump being a Republican,” Colbert said, whose fame was launched by acting as a parody of Republican commentators on his show “The Colbert Report.” “I have a problem with Trump being a complete narcissist who is only working for his own interest and does not appear to care if the entire world burns. That’s not a partisan position.”
Stephen Colbert rejected the partisan label, but still blasted President Donald Trump as an authoritarian. (Scott Kowalchyk/CBS)
“I have eyeballs and ears, and I think calling late-night partisan is just roughing the ref,” he continued. “And we don’t even want to be refs, but they perceive us as refs. I reject the partisan description. Partisan means you’re never, ever going to make a joke about a Democrat, and that’s just not true. There’s just no comparison of how fertile the fields are.”
Beyond mere costs or allegedly appeasing Trump, many argue that the replacement of Colbert’s iteration of “The Late Show” appears to be a sign of the times in a changing media landscape. The sheer volume of podcasts, which appear to eclipse late-night shows, as well as other media, has weakened their ratings, although the late-night stars all have large online presences.
The final season of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” was recently ripped by Variety as “not very good TV” and out of touch with everyday Americans as the host has been flattered by a parade of liberal celebrities.
When contacted by Fox News Digital, a White House spokesman replied, “Stephen Colbert is a pathetic trainwreck with no talent and terrible ratings, which is exactly why CBS canceled his show and is booting him off the airwaves.”
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Stephen Colbert has blasted President Donald Trump and his own network numerous times since learning his show was about to be canceled. (VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)
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