Stephen Colbert will end his run as host of CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on May 21, concluding an 11-year tenure on the network’s late-night program, the comedian confirmed this week.
Colbert, 61, spoke openly about the approaching finale during a Wednesday appearance on NBC's "Late Night With Seth Meyers," saying the reality of the show's cancellation has begun to sink in.
"It feels real," he said. "Now there's four months left and I, you know, the shows are fun to do, but what I really love is the people I do it with."
He added, "It feels real now. I'm not thrilled with it," while hinting that he hopes to work again with members of his team after the show ends.
CBS announced in July that it would cancel "The Late Show" after the 2025–26 broadcast season, ending a late-night series that began in 1993 with David Letterman. Colbert took over the show in 2015.
Since the announcement, he has made clear that his biggest concern is not losing the platform but leaving the staff he works alongside.
"You can do comedy in a lot of different places. There's no place like the Ed Sullivan Theater, but it's really the people. That's what I care about, that's really what I'm going to miss more than anything."
CBS has said the cancellation was driven by financial factors, describing the decision as purely economic.
While the network has not released detailed budget figures, it has acknowledged the show was losing money, with reports indicating losses totaling tens of millions of dollars.
Ratings declines appear to have played a role. Nielsen data cited by Breitbart this week showed that "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" suffered a sharp drop among adults ages 25 to 54, a key advertising demographic, in the months before the cancellation was announced.
According to the report, the show averaged roughly 285,000 viewers in that age group in January, its lowest January performance in that category during Colbert's tenure.
Total viewership has also slipped over time. Breitbart reported that the show averaged about 2.5 million viewers overall in 2025, compared with roughly 2.25 million during a recent week. Despite the decline, the show continued to outperform its late-night competitors in total audience size.
After CBS announced its cancellation, Colbert and other left-leaning comedians publicly criticized the network, tying the decision to political pressure following CBS' $16 million settlement of a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump.
The lawsuit stemmed from allegations that a "60 Minutes" interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris had been deceptively edited, according to the New York Post.
Colbert linked the show's cancellation to free speech concerns and said he would intensify his criticism of Trump during his remaining episodes.
"They made one mistake, they left me alive. For the next 10 months, the gloves are off," he told his audience in July.
CBS has repeatedly denied any political motivation behind the decision, maintaining that the show's end was solely a matter of cost and declining returns.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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