Any surefire expectations one might need had for the again half of the 2025 TV schedule went out the stage set’s ornamental window panels when CBS shockingly canceled The Late Present with Stephen Colbert forward of what would have been the titular comic’s eleventh season behind the desk. Although the late evening staple nonetheless has a yr left, the choice has left many entertainers fuming and confused, with clashing studies about why the present is ending. Then alongside got here Jon Stewart.
I’m certain wasn’t alone in anticipating The Every day Present’s most celebrated host to have a pointed opinion about The Late Present’s confirmed demise, and Stewart didn’t disappoint throughout his newest look. Though it must also shock nobody that he began his fevered speech off not with a bang or a whimper, however with a joke. Addressing the cancellation to a wall of viewers jeers, Stewart mentioned:
[waves away audience’s booing] On this case, I am going to enable it.
Cue Jon Stewart’s cheeky mug:
The NYC native then provided a quick backstory that touched upon the high-quality pre-2016 period once they shared the display and Every day Present stage on a nightly foundation for years, after which gave Colbert a lot of kudos for making the leap to succeed the long-lasting David Letterman’s Late Present mastery. However then the nice vibes flip to bitter grapes because the cancellation is as soon as once more addressed.
Sardonically pinning the choice to axe each Colbert’s run and everything of the Late Present franchise on “purely monetary causes,” Stewart mentioned that inside that mannequin, everybody else is mainly working a “Blockbuster kiosk inside a Tower Information.” Which is to say, placing a failing hat on a failing hat. The host continued drilling down on CBS’ monetary selections tying into guardian firm Paramount International nearing an $8 billion merger with Skydance Media, saying:
I perceive the company worry. I perceive the worry that you simply and your advertisers have with $8 billion at stake, however perceive this, really: the reveals that you simply now search to cancel, censor and management, a not insignificant portion of that $8 billion worth got here from these fucking reveals. That’s what made you that cash.
This aspect is certainly all the time probably the most baffling factor about community mergers to me, though I will be the primary to concede that I’m sorely missing in background data. Nevertheless it does appear non-intuitive to get rid of any of the long-running manufacturers that helped make a community or studio price buying within the first place.
Stewart continued, saying that whereas he understands the Every day Present‘s limitations as a comedy-driven speak present, he nonetheless stands strongly by the concept that this present and others are supposed to be there to entertain and inform with no monetary overhead being a deciding issue. As he put it:
Exhibits that say one thing, reveals that take a stand, reveals which are unafraid. Imagine me, 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, and should you imagine, as companies or as networks, you can also make yourselves so innocuous that you may 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 you might be fucking incorrect.
Naturally, Jon Stewart additionally strikes a political chord by addressing CBS and Paramount’s authorized dealings with Donald Trump, stemming largely from POTUS’ lately settled lawsuit in opposition to 60 Minutes, as a significant component, with the thought being that the community is scrubbing content material that may very well be skewed as politically subversive.
Then reasonably unnaturally, the frontman quickly launches right into a spoken-word rendition of Bob Seger’s “We have Received Tonight” earlier than revealing a six-piece choir behind the curtains. And I might be viewers have by no means heard a extra soulful rendition of the phrase “Go fuck your self,” that what performed out.
If anybody manages to miscontrue Jon Stewart’s message right here, I do not need that particular person to be accountable for something necessary.
The whole June 21 installment of The Every day Present will be streamed under, with the Late Present-related reactions taking place across the 16:30 mark.
Watch On
The Every day Present airs weeknights on Comedy Central at 11:00 p.m. ET, with Jon Stewart popping in each Monday. Previous episodes will be streamed with a Paramount+ subscription.