Samantha Bee has said she was “shocked, [but] not surprised” CBS canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, noting that the long-running late-night program was “definitely hemorrhaging money.”
Bee, who previously worked alongside Stephen Colbert on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, shared her thoughts on the latest episode of the Breaking Bread with Tom Papa podcast. When asked her opinion on CBS’ decision to axe the show, Bee said she believes it was both a “financial decision” and to “curry favor with the president.”
“I think both things are true,” she said, per Variety. “It definitely was hemorrhaging money. These legacy shows are hemorrhaging money with no real end to that… in sight, people are just not tuning in.”
CBS cited financial reasons for canceling The Late Show, which will air its final episode in May 2026. However, others have speculated that the decision was made due to Colbert’s criticism of Paramount’s recent settlement with Trump. This comes amid Paramount’s proposed merger with Skydance, which requires regulatory approval from the Trump administration.
Bee acknowledged both arguments, but pointed out how the viewership is no longer there for late-night shows amid a changing television landscape.
“People are literally on their phones all the time for one thing, so they actually don’t necessarily need a recap of the day’s events. They’re very well-versed in what has happened,” she explained.
Bee hosted her own late-night show, Full Frontal, on TBS, which ran for seven seasons from 2016 to 2022. She revealed that not kicking up controversy during network mergers was “a constant source of conversation,” and so, from that point of view, it seemed like a “no-brainer” for CBS to drop The Late Show.
“It’s so much easier for them to cut it loose with this merger coming down the pike,” she added. “It makes the decision such a no-brainer, and probably the most agonizing decisions they were having were about how do we float this? How do we not get a lot of blowback? I’m sure they knew it was happening a long time ago.”
Despite this, Bee said she thinks the sudden cancelation was “awful,” adding, “I love Stephen. I consider him to be a friend. I think he’s amazing. I’m shocked, not surprised.”
As for President Trump, he took to Truth Social on Tuesday (July 29) to deny having any involvement in The Late Show ending.
“Everybody is saying that I was solely responsible for the firing of Stephen Colbert from CBS, ‘Late Night’” Trump wrote. “That is not true! The reason he was fired was a pure lack of TALENT, and the fact that this deficiency was costing CBS $50 Million Dollars a year in losses — And it was only going to get WORSE!””
He went on to suggest that other late-night shows will suffer a similar fate, writing, “Next up will be an even less talented Jimmy Kimmel, and then, a weak and very insecure Jimmy Fallon. The only real question is, who will go first? Show Biz and Television is a very simple business. If you get Ratings, you can say or do anything. If you don’t, you always become a victim. Colbert became a victim to himself, the other two will follow.”
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Weeknights, 11:35/10:35c, CBS