Stephen Colbert (Strangers With Candy, The Colbert Report) isn’t done just yet. The talk show host has quite the list of guest appearances for the last week of The Late Show, including his former coworker Jon Stewart (Half Baked, Death To Smoochy), legendary filmmaker Stephen Spielberg (Jaws, Jurassic Park), and rock and roll icon Bruce Springsteen (Blinded By Light, High Fidelity).
According to mxdwn, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was canceled in July 2025. Although CBS has stated the decision was “a purely financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.” Speculation has swirled about whether it was due to political pressure from the Trump administration. Colbert has been a vocal critic of Trump during his tenure as host, and the timing of the cancellation coincided with CBS’s parent company, Paramount’s, merger with Skydance.
Trump has been at odds with several late-night hosts, often posting to Truth Social about his grievances. Jimmy Kimmel (The Man Show, Crank Yankers) was suspended due to comments about the alleged shooter in the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Recently, the FCC launched an investigation into ABC after comments by Kimmel, who said Melania has the “glow of an expectant widow.” The comment preceded the attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents’ dinner. The investigation is stated to have nothing to do with the comments but critics have noted the timing is yet again odd. Kimmel has stated that “It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination, and they know that. I’ve been very vocal for many years, speaking out against gun violence in particular.
Kimmel, Stewart, and many other late-night hosts have been supporters of The Late Show and criticized its retirement. On May 11th, Kimmel, Seth Meyers (New Years Eve, Saturday Night Live), John Oliver (Community, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver) , and Jimmy Fallon (Fever Pitch, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon) appeared on the show, reforming the late-night team Strike Force Five. After the announcement of the cancellation, all the previously mentioned hosts, plus Andy Cohen (Queer Eye, Top Chef), were in the audience for a Lin-Manuel Miranda (The Heights, Hamilton) and Weird Al Yankovic (UHF, Weird: The Weird Al Yankovic Story) rendition of Coldplay.
The Late Show will end its run on the air after thirty years on May 21st. Prior to Colbert, David Letterman hosted the series until Colbert took over in 2015. Colbert was a correspondent on The Daily Show for eight years from 1997 to 2005. He left to headline his own show on Comedy Central entitled The Colbert Report. After the late show, Colbert will depart from Comedy and write a movie for the Lord Of The Rings franchise, entitled Shadows Of The Past.