David Letterman is throwing some subtle shade in the wake of CBS’ decision to cancel The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
The original Late Show host, who led the long-running late-night talk show from August 1993 to May 2015, shared a video montage of times he roasted CBS during his stint. The caption to Letterman’s video? “You can’t spell CBS without BS.”
Per the description, the clips in the video are all from Letterman’s The Late Show episodes, including scenes from 1994, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 broadcasts. Colbert officially took over as host of The Late Show in September 2015. At the time, he replaced Letterman, who had announced his retirement in 2014, with his final episode airing in May 2015.
Letterman shared the video montage on Monday, four days after CBS announced the cancellation of not just Colbert’s version of the show, but the series format as a whole. Letterman has not yet technically publicly commented on the matter. Interestingly, also four days ago, his YouTube account reshared an old interview Letterman did with Colbert in 2006 titled “Stephen Colbert Roasts the President,” which refers to then-President George W. Bush.
Colbert addressed the cancellation himself during last Thursday’s taping of The Late Show at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York.
“Before we start the show, I want to let you know something that I found out just last night: Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending The Late Show in May,” he told the audience, which then cut him off with loud booing.
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David Letterman and Stephen Colbert at opening night of ‘Neal Brennan’s Unacceptable’ in 2021
“Yeah, I share your feelings,” he told the crowd. “It’s not just the end of our show, but it’s the end of The Late Show on CBS. I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away.”
Colbert went on to thank CBS, viewers, and all the The Late Show band and staff for their support over the years, calling the gig a “fantastic job,” and admitting that he wished “somebody else was getting it” instead of it being outright cancelled.
However, on a positive note, he said that he looks forward to finishing the show’s run in the next 10 months.
“We get to do this show for each other, every day, all day, and I’ve had the pleasure and the responsibility of sharing what we do every day with you in front of this camera for the last 10 years,” he said, adding, “And it’s a job that I’m looking forward to doing with this usual gang of idiots for another 10 months. It’s going to be fun.”
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Stephen Colbert on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’
In a statement of its own last week, CBS said the cancellation was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”
Still, the decision has come as a shock to fans and industry veterans alike, with many questioning the timing of the announcement given that Colbert recently criticized CBS’ corporate parent, Paramount Global, for settling a suit filed by President Donald Trump for $16 million — a legal dispute that some experts think should have been dismissed on First Amendment grounds.
In his July 21 episode, Colbert addressed the network’s contention that the cancellation was a financial decision.
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“But how could it be purely be a financial decision if the late show is number one in ratings? It’s confusing!” he said, adding that a “gracious anonymous leak” revealed the company “pulled the plug on our show because of losses pegged between $40 million and $50 million dollars” per year.
“$40 million’s a big number. I could see us losing $24 million dollars, but where would Paramount have possibly spent the other $16 million?” Colbert said, referencing Paramount’s settlement with Trump. “Oh yeah.”
Colbert and Letterman’s fellow late-night hosts have showed their Late Show support in recent days, with Jimmy Fallon (of NBC’s The Tonight Show), Seth Meyers (of NBC’s Late Night), Jon Stewart (of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show) and John Oliver (of HBO’s Last Week Tonight) all joining The Late Show on July 21 in unannounced (and hilarious) cameos.
Jimmy Kimmel Live host Jimmy Kimmel also didn’t mince words on his personal Instagram Stories, writing, “Love you Stephen. F— you and all your Sheldons CBS.” Stewart also addressed the news on The Daily Show, calling it “f—ing wrong.”
Entertainment Weekly has reached out to a representative for Letterman for further comment.
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