Cancelling ‘The Late Show’ is a sign of troubling times

At the root lies a looming $8 billion merger: Skydance Media’s takeover of Paramount (the parent company of CBS), now teeters on approval from Trump’s government. In this high-stakes climate, Colbert was both a ratings asset and a liability with the audacity to name the optics for what they were. It’s one thing to lose The Late Show to economics; it’s quite another to lose it to political appeasement.

So what does this cancellation mean in the broader culture of US media? The loss of Colbert’s platform weakens late-night’s role as a communal space for political critique and critical humor, arguably vital in an era when ‘free speech’ politics has run rampant and the far-right looks set to monopolise more areas of everyday life.

Jamie Lee Curtis has the sads because CBS canceled the “Late Show” 😂😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/f0UN4YtGGW

— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) July 18, 2025

With the success of red state-set shows like Yellowstone, TV is setting its sights on right-wing sentiment in a big way. And without voices like Colbert in the mainstream, that doesn’t bode well for the presence of the left in popular media.

Colbert’s loss is also particularly jarring given his longstanding criticism of Trump. Despite his skill as a host and comedian, Colbert was also unafraid to spar with power. To vanish, just as its precision hit a political nerve, is to suggest that some jokes may indeed be too real for television executives to tolerate.

‘The president has beaten the system once again,’ writes Hassenger. ‘It may not be worth mourning the hacky, presidential-themed jokes we might miss in a future with fewer talk shows than ever. But it does feel like the enforcement of one of Trump’s more minor cruelties: the ability to see himself as the only real star in the world.’

It’s in this way that the cancellation of The Late Show speaks less to audience preferences or fleeting ratings and more to the politicized pressures now steering content decisions. It points to a future where being too perceptive (or too publicly critical) might cost you your airtime. If nothing else, that’s proof that in times of political pressure, media may be powerful, but clearly not invincible.