CBS Cancels Stephen Colbert Ahead of its Parent Company's Takeover by a Trump-Friendly Owner

Jul 17, 2025

Paramount, the parent company of CBS, CBS News, and its flagship investigative reporting show 60 Minutes, has made a series of capitulations to Donald Trump since the election, culminating in the $16 million settlement of a bogus Trump lawsuit. So it’s reasonable to ask why they suddenly canceled a successful late-night show hosted by a prominent Trump critic.

At The Atlantic, David A. Graham offers some reasonable speculation:

This evening, the network announced plans to end The Late Show With Stephen Colbert when the host’s contract ends next May. Late-night personalities come and go, but usually that happens when their ratings sag. Colbert, however, has consistently led competitors in his time slot. CBS said this was “purely a financial decision,” made as traditional linear television fades.
Perhaps this is true, but the network that once made Cronkite the most trusted man in America no longer gets the benefit of the doubt. CBS’s owners have made a series of decisions capitulating to President Donald Trump, and the surprise choice to allow Colbert—a consistent, prominent Trump critic—to walk seems like part of that pattern. …
Earlier this month, CBS agreed to a $16 million settlement to end Trump’s lawsuit. The agreement doesn’t pay Trump directly, but the network agreed to pay legal fees for him and a co-plaintiff, and to contribute to Trump’s future presidential library. Trump has stated that the deal also includes unspecified “advertising,” reportedly for public-service announcements that boost Trump-approved causes. Paramount denies this. Now comes Colbert’s departure. If the reasons are truly financial, one wonders how his salary compares to the money spent to settle a dubious lawsuit.

One of the first steps a strongman takes in consolidating his dictatorship is to ensure that all of the big media companies, particularly mass broadcast media, are controlled by businessmen who depend on his favor. Paramount, which is about to be bought out by a Trump-friendly tech billionaire, is the first media firm he has clearly captured.

The Executive Watch is a project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and its flagship publication The UnPopulist, to track in an ongoing way the abuses of the power of the American presidency. It sorts these abuses into five categories: Personal Grift, Political Corruption, Presidential Retribution, Power Consolidation, and Policy Illegality. Click the category of interest to get an overview of all the abuses under it.

Follow us on Bluesky, Threads, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and X.