Stephen Colbert’s late-night reign is ending, and the drama behind it could rival any Hollywood blockbuster.
According to the Daily Mail, the saga of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" took a fiery turn on Thursday, November 20, 2025, when Senator Elizabeth Warren joined Colbert to lambast Paramount, CBS’s parent company, and its CEO, David Ellison, amid the show’s cancellation and swirling questions of political motives.
Let’s rewind to July 2025, when Paramount finalized a long-delayed merger with Skydance, ushering in David Ellison as the new CEO. Ellison, son of Oracle’s Larry Ellison—a prominent GOP donor—promised to distance Paramount from past political ties. Yet, progressives have raised eyebrows over his leadership, especially given his family’s conservative connections.
That same month, Paramount settled a lawsuit with Donald Trump for $16 million over a disputed "60 Minutes" segment from September 2024. Colbert, returning from summer break, didn’t hold back, slamming the payout as nothing short of a “big fat bribe.” This bold jab came just days before CBS dropped the bombshell that "The Late Show" would end in May 2026.
Senator Warren, never one to shy from a corporate showdown, took to social media in July 2025 to question if the cancellation was tied to the Trump settlement or the Skydance merger. She suggested the timing—mere days after Colbert’s criticism—smelled of political retribution. It’s a theory that’s gained traction among those wary of corporate influence in media.
Adding fuel to the fire, a Puck report and Paramount’s own statement in July 2025 claimed the cancellation stemmed from financial woes, with the show bleeding $40 million annually while Colbert pocketed $15 million. That’s a hefty tab for late-night laughs, especially when peers like Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers are also catching flak for alienating viewers with political tirades. Perhaps the network simply craved a return to lighter, celebrity-driven content.
Fast forward to November 20, 2025, and Warren’s appearance on "The Late Show" at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City was anything but a casual chat. She wasted no time, interrupting Colbert to blast Paramount and Ellison directly. Her words weren’t just sharp—they were a full-on broadsword aimed at corporate overreach.
“We don’t think one man or one corporation named David Ellison should be able to buy up all the shows and buy up all the sports and buy up all the news and decide who watches what and who says what,” Warren declared on the show. Let’s unpack that: while her passion for curbing corporate power is clear, isn’t it a stretch to pin all of media’s woes on one executive, especially when Ellison has vowed neutrality?
Colbert, for his part, tried to keep things light, quipping, “You’re going to get me sued.” That’s a fair concern—after all, he’s already on thin ice with a network that’s shown it’s not afraid to pull the plug. But his attempt at humor barely masked the frustration of a host who’s proudly served CBS, only to see his show axed under questionable circumstances.
Meanwhile, Paramount’s moves haven’t slowed down, with a bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company, emerging the same week as Warren’s appearance. Critics on the left see this as further evidence of a consolidating media empire potentially bending to political pressures. But couldn’t this just be business as usual in a cutthroat industry?
Warren’s past social media posts from July 2025 also resurfaced, where she listed settlements from Paramount/CBS and others as evidence of “what looks like corruption in plain sight.” It’s a strong accusation, but without concrete proof, it risks sounding like sour grapes from a progressive camp unhappy with losing a late-night ally. The line between politics and profit in media remains frustratingly blurry. Colbert himself has hinted at deeper machinations, noting on air that the cancellation comes as Paramount seeks approval for network sales under the Skydance merger. Is this a subtle nod to political appeasement, or just a man grappling with the end of a long career chapter? Viewers are left to connect the dots.
The broader context isn’t lost on anyone—late-night TV has been hemorrhaging viewers who tire of political sermons disguised as comedy. Colbert, Kimmel, and Meyers have all faced calls to pivot back to harmless celebrity fluff. Maybe CBS saw the writing on the wall and decided to cut losses before the genre collapses entirely.
Still, the timing of Colbert’s cancellation, paired with Paramount’s Trump settlement and Skydance merger, raises legitimate questions about whether free speech in media is under threat from corporate or political agendas. Warren’s crusade, while fiery, might be a necessary push to keep networks accountable. Even conservatives who disagree with her politics can appreciate a fight for transparency.
As "The Late Show" prepares for its final bow in May 2026, the clash between Warren, Colbert, and Paramount serves as a stark reminder of the high stakes in today’s media landscape. Will late-night TV return to its apolitical roots, or is this just the start of more ideologically charged cancellations? Only time—and perhaps a few more pointed interviews—will tell.
