Stephen Colbert ended his eleven-year run on The Late Show Thursday night, and CBS was already advertising the next show before the night was over.
Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen took over the 11:35 p.m. slot on Friday, featuring Allen alongside comedians including Nate Bargatze, Sebastian Maniscalco, Tiffany Haddish, Gabriel Iglesias, and Cedric the Entertainer. CBS called the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last July “purely a financial” decision, though plenty of people never really bought that explanation.
That is partly because of what happened around the cancellation.
The show disappeared during the same period in which Colbert publicly accused CBS of paying “a big fat bribe” to Donald Trump by settling a 60 Minutes lawsuit for $16 million that he argued was easily winnable. The Paramount-Skydance merger also required FCC approval. CBS cancelled the show shortly after Colbert made those remarks on air, and the network has never addressed the overlap directly.
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The second to last episode pushed the controversy even further into the spotlight.
Bruce Springsteen walked out and told the audience: “I am here in support tonight of Stephen because you’re the first guy in America who’s lost his show because we got a president who can’t take a joke. And because Larry and David Ellison feel they need to kiss his a– to get what they want. These are small-minded people who got no idea what the freedoms of this beautiful country are supposed to be about. This is for you.”
Bruce Springsteen appeared on Stephen Colbert’s show tonight and COOKED Trump and his goons
“I’m here in support tonight for Stephen, because you are the first guy in America who lost his show because we got a president who can’t take a joke…. and because Larry and David… pic.twitter.com/WbAQ1sZfBG
— Harry Sisson (@harryjsisson) May 21, 2026
CBS aired every word of it.
Thursday night’s finale felt very different. Colbert focused less on the controversy and more on the people around him, telling his audience: “I cannot adequately explain to you what the people who work here have done for each other and how much we mean to each other.”
He added: “We were here to feel the news with you, and I don’t know about you, but I sure have felt it.” Most of the sharper commentary had already arrived the night before through Springsteen, which left the finale with a much warmer tone.
Meanwhile, the legal fight around Paramount was still growing.
Freedom of the Press Foundation and Reporters Without Borders filed suit against Paramount Skydance in early May, demanding internal company documents and alleging the firm may have attempted to curry favor with the White House around its bid to take over Warner Bros. Discovery. The letter cited “credible concern that Paramount leadership has offered, solicited, or effectuated a corrupt exchange.” Paramount has not responded to the substance of that allegation.
Featured image via X screengrab
