CBS will end "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" and retire "The Late Show" franchise in May 2026, the company announced Thursday, calling it "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.

CBS Mornings' hosts reacted with sadness and surprise to the cancellation of 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' that was announced Thursday.

CBS’ cancelation of its long-running The Late Show franchise, hosted by Stephen Colbert for the last decade, has left not only the public heartbroken and outraged, but Hollywood as well. Colbert, 61, who’s fronted the talk show since taking over from David Letterman in 2015, shared the network’s decision during Thursday’s broadcast.

Colbert’s cancellation came days after he mocked Paramount, which owns CBS, for its $16 million settlement with Trump in a lawsuit many considered meritless. That settlement comes as Paramount attempts a merger with Skydance Media, which requires FCC approval to proceed.

President Donald Trump weighed in on CBS’s announcement that it is canceling Stephen Colbert’s late-night talk show — and he’s hopeful Jimmy Kimmel will be next to get axed. CBS said Thursday that it plans to end "Late Show With Stephen Colbert" in May 2026,

Newsweek has reached out to representatives for Stewart and Colbert via email. The Context. Stewart and Colbert are stalwarts of the television world. Stewart is the long-running

Colbert followed “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart’s attack of the deal one week earlier. Stewart works for Comedy Central, also owned by Paramount, making the two comics the most visible internal critics of the $16 million settlement that was announced on July 1.

Stephen Colbert returned from his summer hiatus on Monday (July 14) and wasted no time calling out CBS’ parent company, Paramount, for its $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump.