When The Late Show with Stephen Colbert premiered in 2015, CBS made a huge deal about the debut of the talk show. These days, almost as much attention is being paid to the impending end of Colbert's talk show. After all, instead of CBS replacing Colbert with a beloved host, the network is canceling its talk show entirely.
Even as The Late Show is winding down, Colbert continues to speak out on the biggest news of the day, like when he recently called a Donald Trump scandal "so deeply unsettling." With that in mind, it isn't surprising that he just spoke out about the CBS canceling his show and he was very open to the idea that his show may be ending because the network wanted to please Trump.
Stephen Colbert called out CBS for canceling his "number one show"
On November 3, 2025, GQ published a transcript of an interview it had just conducted with Stephen Colbert. While speaking to the outlet, Colbert discussed a wide array of topics, with the cancellation of his talk show being the most notable. When Colbert was asked how he felt when he learned CBS was canceling his talk show, he revealed that he was taken by surprise. Colbert then discussed how being canceled is the nature of the business, only to contend that his show was a success in the ratings when CBS pulled the plug.
"I was surprised. Listen, every show’s got to end at some time. And I’ve been on a bunch of shows that have ended sometimes by our lights and sometimes by the decision of other people. And that’s just the nature of show business. You can’t worry about that. You got to be a big boy about that. But I think we’re the first number one show to ever get canceled."
In response to Colbert's comments, GQ's interviewer stated that his talk show had been number one since 2016. That inspired Colbert to tell a story about a conversation he had with a friend while trying to cope with the news of the cancellation.
"I called a friend of mine who’s also in late night, and I was trying to work out my feelings and I said, 'You got any thoughts on this?' And he goes, 'No, no one’s going to have any thoughts on this. No one’s ever been the number one show for nine years in a row and then been canceled.' And so that surprised me."
Stephen Colbert called it "reasonable" to suspect CBS canceled his show to appease Donald Trump
In July 2025, a CBS News article covered the end of a lawsuit that Donald Trump filed against CBS for how the network edited its Kamala Harris 60 Minutes interview. Ultimately, CBS and Trump reached a settlement that resulted in the network paying him $16 million. While speaking to GQ, Stephen Colbert questioned CBS's decision to settle the lawsuit and agree to that payment.
"I don’t know; no one’s ever going to tell us [who] decided to cut a check for $16 million to the president of the United States over a lawsuit that their own lawyers, Paramount’s own lawyers, said is completely without merit. And it is self-evident that that is damaging to the reputation of the network, the corporation, and the news division. So it is unclear to me why anyone would do that other than to curry favor with a single individual."
Over the last several years, Trump has repeatedly called Colbert out and expressed frustrations about the jokes that he made on his talk show. While discussing Trump and CBS's lawsuit, Colbert stated that it would therefore be "reasonable" to question if CBS canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to appease Trump more.
"I can understand why people would have that reaction because CBS or the parent corporation... If people have theories that associate me with that, it’s a reasonable thing to think, because CBS or the corporation clearly did it once."
While Colbert was willing to say that it makes sense to suspect that CBS ended his show to please Trump, he also explained why he is choosing not to engage with that idea. As the talk show host explained, he would gain nothing by focusing on that possibility.
"Not my problem. So people can have their theories. I have my feelings about not doing the show anymore, but you’d have to show me why that’s a fruitful relationship for me to have with my network for the next nine months, for me to engage in that speculation. I have had a great relationship with CBS. It’s one of the reasons why this was so surprising and so shocking that there was no preamble to this."
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will come to an end in May 2026.