RL Stephen Colbert Responds to ‘Theories’ that ‘Late Show’ Was Cancelled for Political Reasons

NEED TO KNOW

• Stephen Colbert explained that he did not share Adam Schiff and Elizabeth Warren’s speculation about the potential political motivation behind The Late Show’s cancellation
• In July, CBS and its parent company Paramount decided not to continue with the talk show, which will air its final episode in May 2026
• Colbert has served as the host for a decade after taking over for David Letterman

Stephen Colbert is reacting to speculation about his show’s cancellation.

In a new interview with GQ published on Monday, Nov. 3, the host, 61, opened up about his upcoming exit from The Late Show after 10 seasons. When asked to address comments made by Sens. Adam Schiff and Elizabeth Warren, who previously said the public “deserves to know” if the program’s discontinuation was politically motivated, Colbert shared his differing thoughts on the matter.

“Well, good for them,” he noted. “I mean, that’s not my job. That’s not my reaction to it. My reaction as a professional in show business is to go: That is the network’s decision. I can understand why people would have that reaction because CBS or the parent corporation — I’m not going to say who made that decision, because I don’t know; no one’s ever going to tell us — 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.”

In July, Colbert, who had taken over for his predecessor David Letterman a decade prior, announced that the long-running talk series would be coming to an end in May 2026.Stephen Colbert on ‘The Late Show’ on Jan. 3, 2018.

Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty

While CBS told PEOPLE in a statement at the time that the choice was “purely a financial” one, the move came days after Colbert slammed Paramount for giving President Donald Trump $16 million in a settlement, which occurred while the network was in the midst of its Skydance merger that required administration approval before it could move forward. The merger was completed less than a month later on Aug. 7. 

“It is self-evident that that is damaging to the reputation of the network, the corporation and the news division,” Colbert told GQ. “So it is unclear to me why anyone would do that other than to curry favor with a single individual. 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. But my side of the street is clean and I have no interest in picking up a broom or adding to refuse on the other side of the street. Not my problem.”

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“So people can have their theories,” he continued. “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.”

Colbert added that his positive rapport with the network was part of why it was “so shocking” to learn his show wasn’t renewed.Stephen Colbert.

Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty

“There was no preamble to this,” he explained. “We do budgets and everything like that. We’ve done cuts and stuff like that. So that’s why it was surprising to me, as I said, but I meant what I said [on air] the next night after I found out, because I couldn’t sit on it. They’ve been great partners. They really have. They’ve been very supportive.”

Reflecting on the early stages of the show, Colbert revealed its success didn’t happen overnight, and he is grateful that it was given the “six to nine months” it took “to find our legs.”

“They stood by us and they were very supportive and they gave us what we needed and we found it and we delivered for them what we wanted,” Colbert concluded. “I want to do a good job. I’m in show business. I want to do a good job for the network, and I’m really proud that we could do that for them. And that only made our relationship better. Why do you want to be number one? To brag? No.”

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs weekdays on CBS at 11:35 p.m. ET.