Trump loves that Colbert got fired: 'I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next'

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U.S. President Donald Trump is cheering on CBS’ decision to cancel The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in May 2026.

The late-night host announced Wednesday that a decade after he took over from David Letterman, the show is ending. “Next year will be our last season … It’s the end of The Late Show on CBS. I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away,” Colbert told the crowd inside New York’s Ed Sullivan Theatre.

Trump mocked the 61-year-old comedian after he announced the news.

“I absolutely love that Colbert got fired,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday morning. “His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert! (Fox News late night host) Greg Gutfeld is better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show.”

Colbert was one of Trump’s most persistent late-night critics and during a recent segment of the program, he criticized the deal between the president and Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, over a 60 Minutesinterview with Kamala Harris that was deceptively edited. Colbert called the $16 million settlement a “big fat bribe.”

“As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I am offended, and I don’t know if anything will ever repair my trust in this company,” Colbert joked earlier this week. “But just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would help.” Colbert added, “Paramount knows they could have easily fought it because, in their own words, the lawsuit was ‘completely without merit.’ And keep in mind, Paramount produced Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. They know ‘completely without merit.’”

CBS executives said in a statement that the cancellation was “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.”

But Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren wondered if Colbert being axed had something to do with his criticism over the financial resolution.

“CBS cancelled Colbert’s show just three days after Colbert called out CBS owner Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that looks like bribery,” Warren wrote in a statement posted to X. “America deserves to know if his show was cancelled for political reasons.”

Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff said on X that “if Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.”

According to the Associated Press, the most recent ratings from Nielsen show Colbert gaining viewers so far this year and winning his timeslot among broadcasters. This week, the program landed its sixth Emmy nomination for outstanding talk show.

NBC Tonight show host Jimmy Fallon said he was “shocked” by the news and called Colbert “a true friend” in a post shared on Instagram.

“Stephen is one of the sharpest, funniest hosts to ever do it. I really thought I’d ride this out with him for years to come,” Fallon wrote. “I’m sure whatever he does next will be just as brilliant.”

Meanwhile, Kimmel shared Colbert’s monologue to his Instagram Story and lashed out at the network. “Love you Stephen,” he wrote, adding, “F*** you and all your Sheldons CBS.” 

mdaniell@postmedia.com