The Writers Guild of America East and West called on New York Attorney General Letitia James to launch an investigation Friday into why CBS canceled “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” accusing the network’s parent company of offering a “bribe” to the Trump administration.
The guild, whose members include writers for the Colbert program, asked whether the cancellation was meant to help Paramount, the owner of CBS, with President Trump.
The group noted Paramount recently reached a settlement with Trump on a lawsuit filed against CBS News. The $16 million settlement came as Paramount works to complete a megamerger with fellow Hollywood giant Skydance, a deal worth an estimated $28 billion that will need approval from Trump administration regulators to clear.
“Given Paramount’s recent capitulation to President Trump in the CBS News lawsuit, the Writers Guild of America has significant concerns that The Late Show’s cancelation is a bribe, sacrificing free speech to curry favor with the Trump Administration as the company looks for merger approval,” the guild wrote in a statement.
Colbert announced Thursday that “The Late Show” will air its last season and end in May 2026. Paramount said in a statement the show’s end is due to “financial reasons.”
Late night ratings and revenue are down as people cut cords with cable and media continues to diversify. Still, the sequence of events before the announcement has brought up questions around whether the motivations were political and not financial.
On Tuesday, Colbert criticized, on air, Paramount Global’s settlement with Trump over former Vice President Kamala Harris’s interview on “60 Minutes,” calling it a “big fat bribe.” Two days after, Colbert announced “The Late Show” would be canceled.
Tensions have surrounded Trump’s “60 Minutes” lawsuit against CBS.
CBS News President Wendy McMahon stepped down, and Trump threatened to take away CBS’s broadcast license.
“Cancelations are part of the business, but a corporation terminating a show in bad faith due to explicit or implicit political pressure is dangerous and unacceptable in a democratic society,” the Writers Guild wrote.
“Paramount’s decision comes against a backdrop of relentless attacks on a free press by President Trump, through lawsuits against CBS and ABC, threatened litigation of media organizations with critical coverage, and the unconscionable defunding of PBS and NPR,” it continued.
Trump celebrated the cancellation of the liberal star in a post on Truth Social. “I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings,” he posted.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and others also raised questions about the timing.
“CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that looks like bribery. America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons,” Warren posted on social platform X.
James has been vocal in criticizing the administration and has been involved in multiple lawsuits over after-school programs and immigration, among others.
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