Colbert jokes about ‘cancel culture’ and has a very pointed message for Trump
Stephen Colbert returned for his first full undertaking after last week s announcement that CBS was canceling his Late Show with particular supportive late-night guests a joke about cancel heritage and an extremely pointed remark directed at President Donald Trump I m going to go ahead and say it Cancel civilization s gone way too far Colbert commented to a rambunctious audience that loudly chanted his name CBS and parent Paramount Global mentioned the decision to end the Late Show next May was purely financial It hasn t gone unnoticed and was mentioned by Colbert Monday night that the announcement came days after the comic had sharply criticized Paramount s million settlement of Trump s lawsuit over a Minutes interview Colbert known for his sharp comic takedowns of the Republican president reported that over the weekend it sunk in that they killed off our show But they made one mistake They left me alive Now he disclosed I can say what I really think of Donald Trump starting right now As his audience cheered him on Colbert explained I don t care for him Doesn t seem to have the skill set to be president Colbert s personal message to TrumpHe read a passage from a Trump social media message saying that he loved that the untalented Colbert had been fired How dare you sir Colbert commented Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism The show switched to a close-up camera where Colbert appeared to say f - you the word bleeped out and his mouth blurred Noting CBS explanation for his firing Colbert revealed how can it purely be a financial decision if the show is No in the ratings It s confusing A lot of folks are asking that question mainly my staff s parents and spouses With chosen apparent irritation he mentioned various news stories over the weekend published the apparently leaked information that Late Show was losing between million and million a year Ad revenue for late-night entertainment broadcasts has shrunk sharply as the audience particularly young men turn to streaming or other priorities I could see us losing million Colbert revealed But where would Paramount have ever spent the other million Oh yeah Colbert introduced the odd duo of Weird Al Yankovic and Lin-Manuel Miranda to sing Coldplay s Viva La Vida In a sly reference to the couple caught on camera last week at a Coldplay concert Late Show cameras panned the audience to find chosen supportive friends fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon Seth Meyers Jon Stewart and John Oliver as well as Adam Sandler Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen Jon Stewart takes up Colbert s causeOn Comedy Central s The Daily Show also owned by Paramount Stewart delivered an impassioned defense of his friend and former co-worker and suggested it was futile to try to satisfy Trump certainly not by taking away programs that have helped build the company s value over the years This is not the moment to give in Stewart stated I m not giving in I m not going anywhere I think On his own show Colbert turned serious briefly to address people who had expressed advocacy for him since the announcement was made Certain people see this show going away as the sign of something truly dire And while I m a big fan of me I don t necessarily agree with that declaration he explained because we here at the Late Show never saw our job as changing anything other than how you felt at the end of the day which I think is a worthy goal Or he continued changing how you felt the next morning when you watched on your phone which is why broadcast TV is dying
