When you’re not watching “The Late Present With Stephen Colbert” proper now, you’re lacking appointment tv. To say the gloves have come off since Colbert’s cancellation announcement final week can be a gross understatement. Not that Colbert actually ever held again on his opinions, however a bunch scorned hath extra fury.
On Thursday, July 24, he even launched a monologue cut-away section “Present Un-Cancelled.” After all, that announcement seems to be a fake-out — and the graphic used for it supposedly value $40 million. That one’s gentle hearted — no extra scathing than what “Arrested Growth” threw down in its final season on Fox (anybody sufficiently old to do not forget that reference?). All through the primary week of exhibits as a fallen angel, nevertheless, Colbert repeatedly appeared to play hen along with his community, CBS, and its mother or father firm, Paramount, which simply obtained the OK from the Trump Justice Division for a merger with Skydance (set to shut August 7.) Not solely did he reference the cancellation and the Skydance deal quite a few occasions, he additionally went even tougher on Trump.
An then the different late evening exhibits went simply as onerous (or tougher) on CBS and Paramount. On Monday, July 21, a lot of the different hosts even appeared in a Colbert section, showcasing help for his or her competitor. References abounded in their very own segments — some humorous, some ominous warnings — together with some robust phrases from Jon Stewart on “The Every day Present,” which airs on fellow Paramount property Comedy Central.
“Exhibits that say one thing, exhibits that take a stand, exhibits which can be unafraid — this isn’t a ‘We communicate reality to energy.’ We don’t. We communicate opinions to tv cameras. However we strive. We fucking strive, each evening,” Stewart mentioned. “And when you consider, as companies or as networks, you may make your self so innocuous that you would be able to serve a gruel so flavorless that you’ll by no means once more be on the boy king’s radar — A) Why will anybody watch you? And [B)] you’re fucking mistaken.”
Fellow hosts Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, in the meantime, appear to be subsequent on Trump’s cancellation want record — contemplating he known as for his or her cancellation and all. Fallon has been on trip, and subsequently has not had a monologue with which to reply. He did, nevertheless, write an announcement that instructed the community, “Fuck you and all of your Sheldons CBS.”
On the July 21 present, Fallon mentioned, “I’m your host, nicely… a minimum of for tonight. I don’t prefer it. I don’t like what’s occurring one bit.”
Fallon did get in a dig at CBS’ streaming platform, including, “And many individuals at the moment are threatening to boycott the community. Yep. CBS might lose hundreds of thousands of viewers plus tens of tons of watching on Paramount+.” “The Tonight Present” host additionally sang about Trump’s continued Epstein drama and his late evening pursuits within the tune under.
Comedy Central appears to have gotten the final chortle — thus far, a minimum of — on the entire debacle. The AI-segment seen ’around the world this week got here courtesy of “South Park,” who delivered maybe essentially the most blistering satire of President Donald Trump but. This got here simply hours after the sequence closed a cope with Paramount to proceed for one more 5 years, and only a day earlier than the Justice Division permitted the merger. The Wednesday, July 23 episode of “South Park” additionally spoke fairly actually to the Skydance deal in a scene involving none aside from Jesus Christ.
“You guys noticed what occurred to CBS,” Christ mutters by way of gritted tooth. “Nicely guess who owns CBS? Paramount! You actually need to find yourself like Colbert?
Then on July 25, former “Late Present” legend David Letterman, Colbert’s predecessor, chimed in on his YouTube channel.
“I don’t suppose it was cash… it was pure cowardice,” Letterman mentioned, occurring to reward “exact, crisp, witty political satirist” Colbert. He then addressed CBS/Paramount’s resolution, saying “What the fuck is Skydance, sincere to Christ? Is it a reduction airline? Is that what it’s? I believe sooner or later, if not in the present day, the individuals at CBS, who’ve manipulated and dealt with this are going to be embarrassed as a result of that is that is gutless. I solely want this might occur to me… Combating with community tv administration was primary within the playbook.”
However nobody went tougher on Paramount than Colbert himself. In its statements discussing “The Late Present” cancellation, Paramount repeatedly made point out of the present’s $40 million annual losses. This determine has been questioned, and it was a quantity referenced repeatedly by Colbert all week.
“I might see us shedding $24 million, however the place might Paramount have presumably spent the opposite 16… Oh yeah,” he mentioned on the July 21 episode.
Within the July 23 episode, he referenced how Trump claimed that CBS/Paramount can be offering one other $20 million a 12 months in administration-approved airtime.
“By bending the knee, they misplaced like $40 million this 12 months,” Colbert mentioned. “They higher be careful. They may get canceled for purely monetary causes.”
This was simply the tip of the iceberg for Colbert. It virtually appears as if the stalwart late evening presence is daring CBS to cancel him earlier than Could 2026, an thought additionally postured this week by Time. Definitely his tone was not one which sounds… uh, let’s say copasetic, along with his employers.
However you be the choose. What’s Colbert’s recreation? Right here’s just a few of his daring feedback from the week’s exhibits, mined from his full monologues:
“Over the weekend it sunk in that they’re killing off our present. However they made one mistake: They left me alive!”
“All of the king’s horses and all of the king’s males couldn’t disguise who Dumpty humped along with his buddy.”
“It’s not a fantastic look if you fly on the pedophile’s airplane sufficient occasions to earn diamond pervert standing.”
“What are you gonna inform me subsequent — that the Pope is within the Catholic recordsdata? {That a} bear is on the quilt of this month’s Trendy Woods Pooper?”
And naturally, he did additionally say succinctly, “The President was buddies with a pedophile.”
The gloves actually are off.