CBS is axing “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” in May 2026. The announcement on live air Thursday came two days after Colbert spoke out against CBS Global settling with President Donald Trump over a “60 Minutes” story.

Colbert confirmed the cancellation during a show taping on Thursday. CBS said the move was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night."

Stephen Colbert's "The Late Show", long a staple of late-night television, will come to an end in 2026, the comedian and network CBS said on Thursday."The network will be ending the show in May (2026).

After more than three decades on air, CBS announced on Thursday that its famed "Late Show" franchise is coming to a close. "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" will officially come to an end in May 2026, according to the network, which said the decision to end the show was a financial one.

Stephen Colbert riffed Paramount Global’s $16 million settlement of Donald Trump’s lawsuit, calling the payment a “big fat bribe” and joking about the prospects that new owner Skydance will try pressure him to back off from humor directed at the president.