Stephen Colbert's show cancellation explained

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert's cancellation comes days after the host's criticism of the channel's recent settlement with US President Donald Trump.

While CBS insisted that the cancellation was "purely a financial decision" and not related to The Late Show's performance or content, two prominent Democratic politicians questioned the timing of the decision.

"CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that looks like bribery," Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote on X. "America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons."

California Senator Adam Schiff, who had just appeared on The Late Show when Colbert made the announcement, echoed the sentiment. “If Paramount and CBS ended The Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better,” he wrote on X.

Colbert's criticism of the network's sizable donation to Trump came Monday, in which he said on the show, “I believe this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles: it’s 'big, fat bribe.'"

Later in a Thursday taping, Colbert announced that his show would be ending in May 2026 on completion of 10 seasons.

By Friday morning, Trump took to Truth Social to celebrate the news of Colbert's upcoming exit.

"I absolutely love that Colbert got fired," he wrote, adding, "I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next."

It all began with Trump accusing journalists at 60 Minutes of deceptively editing a 2024 interview with his presidential election rival, Kamala Harris.

Paramount — which will need the Trump administration's approval to complete its merger with Skydance Media — did not apologise, but recently agreed to settle the lawsuit regardless with a $16 million donation to Trump's future presidential library.