“The Tonight Show” and “Late Night” hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers have responded to CBS’ Thursday decision to cancel “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” with Fallon telling fans that he is “just as shocked as everyone.”
The “Tonight Show” host shared his response in an Instagram story Friday. “Stephen is one of the sharpest, funniest hosts to ever do it. I really thought I’d ride this out with him for years to come,” the late night veteran wrote. “I’m sad that my family and friends will need a new show to watch every night at 11:30.”
“But honestly, he’s really been a gentleman and a true friend over the years – going back to ‘The Colbert Report,’” Fallon added. “I’m sure whatever he does next will be just as brilliant.”
Meyers paid tribute to Colbert on Instagram Friday morning as well. “For as great a comedian and host he is, Stephen Colbert is an even better person,” Meyers wrote. “I’m going to miss having him on TV every night but I’m excited he can no longer use the excuse that he’s ‘too busy to hang out’ with me.”
Fallon and Colbert have been leading their networks’ headline late night shows for nearly the same amount of time. The former took over “The Tonight Show” for NBC in Feb. 2014, while the latter debuted as the new host of “The Late Show” on CBS in Sept. 2015. Meyers, meanwhile, took over for Fallon as the host of NBC’s “Late Night” series in Feb. 2014.
Fallon and Meyers’ statements comes less than a full day after Colbert made the shocking announcement during the taping of Thursday’s “The Late Show” that the series will be coming to an end in May 2026. Colbert revealed that he had found out about CBS’ decision the night before. When Thursday’s “Late Show” studio audience reacted with boos, Colbert told them he agreed with them.
As Colbert noted, CBS is not just ending “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” but “The Late Show” altogether, 32 years after it launched with original host David Letterman in Aug. 1993.
CBS has called the move “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night” and insisted Thursday that it is “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”
The decision has nonetheless raised the eyebrows of many, as it came mere days after Colbert publicly blasted CBS parent company Paramount’s $16 million lawsuit settlement with President Donald Trump. Colbert called the settlement a “big fat bribe” intended to ensure that Trump’s FCC approves Paramount’s merger with Skydance.
With that in mind, Fallon and Meyers are not the only public figures who have responded to the cancellation of “The Late Show.” Several prominent politicians have cast doubt on CBS’ reasoning behind the decision, including California Sen. Adam Schiff, who was a guest on Thursday’s edition of “The Late Show.”
“Just finished taping with Stephen Colbert who announced his show was cancelled,” Schiff wrote on X. “If Paramount and CBS ended the ‘Late Show’ for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.”
In March, CBS chose to cancel another late night series, “After Midnight,” after host Taylor Tomlinson expressed her desire to exit the series and start focusing primarily on stand-up and touring again. In June, Tomlinson told viewers, “I really wanted CBS to replace me.”
Colbert echoed Tomlinson’s sentiments Thursday night. “We get to do this show for each other every day all day, and I’ve had the pleasure and the responsibility of sharing what we do every day with you in front of this camera for the last 10 years,” Colbert told his “Late Show” viewers and in-studio audience members. “Let me tell you, it is a fantastic job. I wish somebody else was getting it.”
