Roy Wood Jr. admitted he cannot wait for the unfiltered Stephen Colbert that will take root post-CBS cancellation.
The host of CNN‘s “Have I Got News For You” told an audience at the Edinburgh TV Festival that the late night host could very well become a leading anti-Trump voice on platforms like YouTube.
“When he’s running rampant on YouTube like Don Lemon, that will create a bigger issue for this administration in 2026 if he builds an audience,” Wood Jr. said. “If [the Trump administration] were smart, they would leave us alone and let us tell our jokes.”
“The Late Show” was canceled just weeks after its parent company Paramount settled a lawsuit with President Donald Trump and just before the FCC approved Paramount Global and Skydance’s $8 billion merger.
While the network claimed that the decision to cancel the late night program was purely financial, Colbert has been loudly disapproving of the president and Trump even celebrated the comedian’s firing on all of his social media platforms.
“God bless whatever Stephen Colbert does next year with no network person to give him notes,” Wood Jr. added, per Deadline.
As for his home network CNN, Wood Jr. said that news networks like his have had to elevate a wider array of voices to bring in higher viewership. He added that American journalists, though, are not willing to sacrifice their careers to make a political point.
“I don’t know if there are enough American journalists who care enough about the totality of our society to sacrifice their career,” he said. “Because then the question becomes, ‘How many journalists can you fire until you find a compliant one?’”
Wood Jr. spoke at the Edinburgh TV Festival on a Wednesday panel titled “Trump vs. The Media” alongside Matthew Belloni, Katy Balls, Katie Razzall and Dorothy Byrne.
