Stephen Colbert had some choice words for U.S. President Donald Trump during Monday’s opening monologue on The Late Show, following the news of the show’s cancellation. The show will end in May 2026.
“Over the weekend it sunk in that they’re killing off our show but they made one mistake: they left me alive,” Colbert said, looking directly into the camera.
“And now for the next 10 months, the gloves are off. I can finally speak unvarnished truth to power and say what I really think about Donald Trump, starting right now.”
Colbert said he doesn’t “care for” Trump, adding that he doesn’t think he has “the skill set to be president” and isn’t “a good fit.”
The late-night host went on to read Trump’s post celebrating the decision to cancel the show on Truth Social last Friday, writing, “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.”
Colbert said into the “Eloquence Cam”: “How dare you, sir? Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism? Go f— yourself.”
Colbert also noted that Trump’s post mentioned his fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.
“I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next,” Trump wrote. “Has even less talent than Colbert! Greg Gutfeld is better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show.”
Colbert went on to joke that no one was going to take this moment away from him.
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“Nope, no, no. Absolutely not,” he said. “Kimmel, I am the martyr. There’s only room for one on this cross. And I got to tell you, the view is fantastic from up here. I can see your house!”
Colbert also addressed the statement from Paramount and CBS executives about the show’s cancellation, calling it “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”
“How could it purely be a financial decision if The Late Show is number one in ratings? It’s confusing. A lot of folks are asking that question. Mainly my staff, parents and spouse,” Colbert said.
“Well, over the weekend, somebody at CBS followed up their gracious press release with a gracious anonymous leak saying they pulled the plug on our show because of losses pegged between $40 million and $50 million a year,” he continued, pointing to a report from the New York Post.
Colbert said that $40 million is a “big number.”
“I could see us losing $24 million but where would Paramount have possibly spent the other $16 million? Oh yeah,” he said, hinting at Paramount’s decision to settle Trump’s lawsuit against CBS over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris.
Colbert previously called Paramount’s US$16-million payment to Trump a “big fat bribe,” since the company is seeking the administration’s approval of its merger with Skydance Media.
On Friday, the Writers Guild of America called for an investigation by New York’s attorney general into whether Colbert’s cancellation is itself a bribe, “sacrificing free speech to curry favor with the Trump administration as the company looks for merger approval.”
By Monday, The Late Show was at the centre of a protest from fans who were outside the Ed Sullivan Theater, chanting, “Colbert stays! Trump must go!”
— With files from The Associated Press
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‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ airs weeknights on Global TV at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT.
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