President Donald Trump, who celebrated CBS’ decision to cancel Stephen Colbert’s late-night talk show, said Tuesday he was not "solely" responsible for the network ending the show in May.
Before CBS announced the cancellation July 17, Colbert accused its parent company, Paramount, of paying Trump a "big fat bribe" regarding a $16 million settlement in the president’s lawsuit over "60 Minutes" selectively editing an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris before the 2024 election.
Paramount framed the cancellation as "purely a financial decision," and anonymous sources told multiple news outlets the show was losing at least $40 million a year.
A week after the show was canceled, federal regulators approved Paramount’s $8 billion merger with Skydance Media, and many liberals, like Colbert, believed the settlement was to make sure the merger went through.
"Everybody is saying that I was solely responsible for the firing of Stephen Colbert from CBS, Late Night," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. "That is not true! The reason he was fired was a pure lack of TALENT, and the fact that this deficiency was costing CBS $50 Million Dollars a year in losses — And it was only going to get WORSE!"
Trump also predicted that Jimmy Kimmel, host of a late-night talk show on ABC and a relentless critic of the president, and Jimmy Fallon, host of "The Tonight Show," will soon go the way of Colbert.
"Next up will be an even less talented Jimmy Kimmel, and then, a weak, and very insecure, Jimmy Fallon," Trump wrote. "The only real question is, who will go first? Show Biz and Television is a very simple business. If you get Ratings, you can say or do anything. If you don’t, you always become a victim. Colbert became a victim to himself, the other two will follow."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.