A writer’s union wants New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) to probe the reasons why CBS decided to cancel “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” even after the network said it was a “financial decision.”
The Writers Guild of America East and West began calls for the investigation on Friday, the Hill reported.
“The guild, whose members include writers for the Colbert program, asked whether the cancellation was meant to help Paramount, the owner of CBS, with President Trump,” the outlet said.
Colbert was reportedly informed of the network’s decision on Wednesday, per Breitbart News. The outlet continued:
“We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire ‘The Late Show’ franchise” in May of 2026,” executives said in a statement. “We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television. This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount.”
In a social media post on Friday, the Writers Guild of America East shared a statement about the groups’ calls for an investigation.
“Given Paramount’s recent capitulation to President Trump in the CBS News lawsuit, the Writers Guild of America has significant concerns that The Late Show’s cancelation is a bribe, sacrificing free speech to curry favor with the Trump administration as the company looks for merger approval,” it read:
Writers Guild of America statement — wgaeast/Instagram
Meanwhile, Trump celebrated the forthcoming end of Colbert’s show and shared his thoughts in a post on Truth Social, according to Breitbart News.
“I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!” he wrote, adding, “Greg Gutfeld is better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show.”
Colbert’s show reportedly operated at a $40 million annual loss for several years, according to Breitbart News.
