Fans protesting the cancellation of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Thursday appeared to be unaware that the network lost $40 million on the program.
CBS announced July 17 that Colbert’s show would end in May 2026, citing a lack of profitability and adding that the show itself would be retired at that time. A Fox News reporter interviewed the fans, who chanted “Save Colbert” and held a petition with over 250,000 signatures, during a segment on Thursday evening’s episode of “Jesse Watters Primetime.”
“If you are making a product that was losing you $40 million a year, would you continue making that product?” the Fox News reporter asked two women involved in the protest. “No,” three women said, with a man adding, “Absolutely not!”
“That’s what’s happening here,” the reporter told the man, who responded. “They’re losing $40 million? Then yeah, it’s a business decision.”
Liberal celebrities and some Democrats have claimed the cancellation was due to politics, offering conspiracy theories that Colbert was cancelled due to Paramount’s pending merger with Skydance. The reporter asked other fans about the decision.
“I would make adjustments,” one fan said, but when asked if getting a new host or changing the show’s topics were options, the fan said, “Hell, no!”
Now that’s funny!