Donald Trump wasted no time celebrating CBS’ decision to cancel “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” saying on Friday morning, “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired” before predicting (threatening?) that Jimmy Kimmel was next.
“I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday morning. “I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!”
The president added that Greg Gutfeld, the host of “Gutfeld!” on Fox News, is “better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show.” Trump was, of course, ripping Jimmy Fallon there.
Trump’s mocking of Colbert comes the morning after CBS said it was canceling “The Late Show.”
CBS said it was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night,” and had nothing to do with Colbert’s frequent criticism of the president.
Many of Colbert’s fans were skeptical of that claim, and pointed out his show was canceled just days after the host derided Paramount’s $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump. Colbert called the deal a “big fat bribe” to ensure the Trump administration’s FCC approves Paramount’s upcoming merger with Skydance Media.
Colbert remained the top show in the CBS-ABC-NBC late night battle during the second quarter, averaging 2.42 million viewers between April and June. “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” averaged 1.77 million viewers, and Fallon’s “Tonight Show” on NBC averaged 1.19 million viewers.
Those late night shows, as The New York Times reported on Thursday, have been hit by significant drop in ad sales in recent years. Between 2018 and 2023, late night ad revenue dropped 50% to $220 million, according to metrics shared with the Times by Guideline, an ad data firm.
The aforementioned Gutfeld, whose show airs in primetime at 10:00 p.m. ET weeknights on Fox News averaged 3.29 million viewers during the second quarter.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday night questioned whether Colbert’s canceling was tied to his criticism of his network and the president, saying “America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.” California Sen. Adam Schiff, who was Colbert’s guest on Thursday night, echoed Warren, saying the public deserves to know if the show was dropped for “political reasons.”
“The Late Show” will air its final episode 10 months from now, in 2026, Colbert said on Thursday.
