When I look back on the 2025 TV schedule, I think I’ll always remember the day I found out The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was canceled. It was truly shocking news, and in the weeks since, many, including his fellow late-night hosts,

Jimmy Kimmel gave a salute to “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert ” — and blasted rival network CBS — on Thursday evening, hours after CBS announced that it is canceling Colbert’s series in May 2026 and retiring the “Late Show” brand.

Critics, however, have called out the timing of the announcement, which came in the same month that Paramount Global, the parent company of Colbert's network, agreed to pay $16 million to President Donald Trump over an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris that aired on 60 Minutes in November.