President Donald Trump reveled in the cancellation of CBS’s “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” on July 18, 2025, taking to Truth Social to declare, “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.” The president didn’t stop there, predicting that ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel is next, claiming he “has even less talent than Colbert.” Trump also praised Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld, calling him “better than all of them combined,” while slamming NBC’s Jimmy Fallon as “the Moron who ruined the once great Tonight Show.”
CBS announced the show’s end, set for May 2026, citing financial pressures in the declining late-night TV market, with ad revenue down 50% to $220 million from 2018 to 2023. Despite leading with 2.42 million viewers in Q2 2025, Colbert’s show faced the axe, raising eyebrows due to its timing. Just days prior, Colbert called Paramount’s $16 million settlement with Trump over a “60 Minutes” lawsuit a “big fat bribe” to secure FCC approval for its Skydance merger.
Critics, including Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff, question if the cancellation was political retribution for Colbert’s anti-Trump stance. Kimmel, a vocal Trump critic, responded on Instagram, saying, “Love you Stephen. F–k you and all your Sheldons CBS.” The move has fueled debates about free speech and media capitulation. As late-night TV struggles, with Kimmel and Fallon’s shows averaging 1.77 and 1.19 million viewers, respectively, Trump’s comments stoke fears of further cancellations. Will Kimmel’s show survive, or is Trump’s prediction prescient? The clash between politics and entertainment is heating up, with America’s late-night landscape at a crossroads.
