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In Colbert Blood

CBS’s decision to cancel ‘The Late Show’ has shaken a town beset by fears regarding industry economics and the cozy dealmaking between Trump and the Ellisons. Will the creative community revolt?

Stephen Colbert
Photo: Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for Montclair Film and North to Shore Festival
Kim Masters
July 22, 2025

“I absolutely love that Colbert got fired,” Trump gloated late last week, pouring gasoline on the already raging inferno of speculation that the president had played some kind of down-low role in the cancellation of the number one late-night show on broadcast TV. After he fired off the Truth Social post, many openly wondered whether CBS’s move had been part of the “side deal” with Skydance that Trump has mentioned in the wake of extracting $16 million from Paramount Global to settle his baseless 60 Minutes lawsuit.