According to Deadline, David Letterman (Late Night with David Letterman) recently gave his opinion on the recent cancellation of The Late Show. “I don’t think it was money,” Letterman says on a video on the Letterman YouTube channel hosted by Barbara Gaines (Maya & Marty), who was previously an executive producer on The Late Show with David Letterman. “This is pure cowardice.”

As per Deadline, Letterman joked that the “Ellison twins” were buying Paramount – “they should go buy Dairy Queen or something and stay out of this business” – and that the Skydance boss didn’t want to be “hassled by the U.S. government”.

“10 years ago, I quit and left. Then Stephen Colbert (The Daily Show) comes along, and pretty quickly established himself as a precise, crisp, witty political satirist, and often his target has been the current administration. Based on that and just the overall entertainment quota of the show, drew a great audience and people became not addicted to but always looking forward to political satire from Stephen Colbert, he was very good at it. For 10 years, I think became the face of the network,” he said via Deadline.

According to Deadline, Letterman stated that CBS canceled the show because the new owners “don’t want any trouble from that guy”. “If they were losing this kind of money, you’re telling me losing this kind of money happened yesterday. Yeah right,” he said. “I bet they were losing this kind of money six weeks ago, or they have never been losing money.”

“If they were losing this kind of money, you’re telling me losing this kind of money happened yesterday. Yeah right,” he said via Deadline. “I bet they were losing this kind of money six weeks ago, or they have never been losing money.”

As per Deadline, CBS said its decision to cancel the show and the franchise was “purely financial”. Letterman added that he didn’t think CBS did the “correct thing” and did not “handle Stephen Colbert… in the way he deserves to have been handled”.

“What the fuck is Skydance, honest to Christ? Is it a discount airline? Is that what it is? I think one day, if not today, the people at CBS, who have manipulated and handled this are going to be embarrassed because this is this is gutless. I only wish this could happen to me,” he added via Deadline.

According to Deadline, Letterman stated that he enjoys a good fight with management. “Fighting with network television management was number one in the playbook,” he said.

The full interview with Letterman can be seen below.