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.” (RELATED: Brian Stelter Really Wants You To Believe Late-Night Host Losing CBS Millions Was Fired Because Of Trump)
“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.”
WATCH:
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!”
Other fans were in denial of the network’s financial losses.
“They’re not losing money because it’s physically impossible with the amount of advertisers they have,” one man said, before asking about “marquee guests” by the Fox News reporter, who asserted that Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California and Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York qualified for that description.
CBS settled a $10 billion lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump over the editing of an October 2024 interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who was Trump’s opponent in the 2024 presidential election, drawing criticism from inside the company, including from Colbert.
Fans also seemed to be unaware of Colbert’s salary, which is $15 million a year, according to Hollywood Life.
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