The Media Research Center continued to buy into CBS’ evidence-free claims that it canceled Stephen Colbert’s late-night show because it was losing money, as illustrated in a July 23 post by intern Lucas Escala:
Like many others in the liberal media, CNN’s The Situation Room co-hosts Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown were quick to jump on the growing wave of fear that somehow spread from a flopping comedy show getting cancelled. In an interview with CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter, the three expressed their concerns over what Colbert’s cancellation meant for the future of late-night TV… and our freedom.
When CBS announced the end of the award-winning The Late Show with Stephen Colbert over the show’s reported financial failings, many refused to believe it was possible. But, believe it or not, Stephen Colbert actually did win awards for his work on The Late Show.
He also lost Paramount Global $40 million dollars annually; $100 million to produce while only bringing in $60 million in ad revenue.
It really should come as no surprise that a show tanking that hard would get pulled off the air eventually, but liberals concocted a conspiracy that completely ignored the facts in front of them.
Escala offered no evidence to back up CBS’ claims. He also didn’t explain how the highest-rated late-night show could be considered to be “tanking.” Instead, Escala went on to huff that “Coming off the heels of Paramount’s $16 million dollar settlement with Trump over a defamation case, people tried to put two and two together, even when the facts clearly weren’t adding up.” Yet he offered no actual evidence that the two weren’t related.
Another intern, Ashley Taylor, pushed the same dubious narrative:
On Tuesday afternoon’s CNN News Central, host Brianna Keilar brought on liberal comedian Pete Dominick to dissect the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Dominick confidently suggested political motives were to blame, not CBS’s claim that the decision was “purely financial.”
Keilar asked Dominick what “the larger picture” might be, seemingly side‑stepping CBS’s official line.
Dominick, who once served as the warm‑up comedian for Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report, made no bones about his disbelief that anything besides political pressure was at work.
[…]Liberals, eager to pin yet another authoritarian label on Trump, fall in line with those like Senator Adam Schiff (D‑CA) among others, who have argued that Colbert’s relentless criticism of Trump must have alarmed Paramount’s merger ambitions. That theory, however, remains unverified and speculative at best.
[…]If CBS removed Colbert’s show for political reasons, why not others within their left‑pleasing late‑night lineup? Paramount already owns numerous liberal‑leaning outlets, including Comedy Central, so singling out Colbert hardly bolsters the merger‑suppression story.
It’s absurd to suggest in 2025 that government officials– let alone the President– could outright order a private network to cancel a show. Dominick’s hyperbolic “fascism” claim serves more as alarmist shorthand than substantive reasoning.
Taylor similarly failed to offer any actual evidence disputing a link or explain why CBS’ story should be trusted. She then played the victimization card: “It’s interesting to note that public figures such as Savannah Chrisley and Gina Carano lost deals and roles over their conservative views, but nobody called them victims of fascism.”
Tim Graham weighed in with his July 23 podcast:
CBS canceling Stephen Colbert’s late night show — ten months from now — has been treated like the “dismantling” of the Constitution, and democracy itself. Liberals act like they alone represent the First Amendment and democracy, and whenever someone cancels a TV show, it must be a craven attempt to curry favor with a “fascist.” Socialists fuss that “corporate masters” don’t have the courage to rip Trump 24/7 as they wish.
He then touted how “NewsBusters media analyst and comedy researcher Alex Christy joins the show to discuss all things Colbert.” Speaking of Christy, he had a fit over the idea that the money CBS’ parent paid to Donald Trump to settle a lawsuit could have been used to save the show:
Stephen Colbert tried to suggest on Wednesday’s The Late Show that there was something contradictory or even hypocritical in CBS deciding to cancel him while parent company Paramount settled in a recent lawsuit with President Trump that could lead them to giving up around $36 million.
Colbert brought out his Trump voice as he read from a Truth Social post, “One bright spot for Trump in the news right now is how much he’s making my network crawl. Yesterday, Trump posted, ‘Breaking news!’ Yes, that is what you’re doing to the news. Tell us how this time. ‘We have just achieved a big and important win in our historic lawsuit against 60 Minutes, CBS, and Paramount. Paramount/CBS/60 Minutes have today paid $16 million in settlement, and we will also anticipate receiving $20 million more from the new owners for a total of over $36 million.'”
It has been reported that The Late Show lost the network around $40 million a year, so Colbert did some mental math, “Wow, hold on, plus they’re paying his legal fees. Sixteen plus 20—that means by bending the knee, they lost, like, $40 million this year. They better watch out. They better watch out. They might get canceled. For purely financial reasons. Purely.”
Of course, there is a big difference between a one-time payment and an annual loss, but Colbert kept going[.] […]
It’s hard to tell how much Colbert himself actually believes in the idea that the lawsuit had something to do with his cancellation, but many of his viewers and political allies believe there is a clear connection, but routines like this won’t help rid them of this mistaken belief.
Christy offered no evidence that this belief is “mistaken.” A few hours later, he groused that Colbert guest Sandra Oh “wished that a plague would descend upon CBS and its parent company, Paramount,” adding that Colbert “knows The Late Show is ending for financial reasons, just as CBS said” — again, without substantiating the claim.
Meanwhile, an MRC executive ran to the right-wing safe space of Fox News to gloat:
MRC Free Speech America VP Dan Schneider pointed out that Americans aren’t tuning in for the partisan bias and radical beliefs pushed by the legacy media. That’s why people like Late Show host Stephen Colbert are getting squeezed out.
Schneider told Fox News senior correspondent Kevin Corke that print and broadcast legacy media were taking a beating for losing touch. On the Wednesday edition of Fox News Tonight, Schneider said, “If these entertainment companies are not serving the public interest, if they are not serving consumers, they are going to go out of business.”
Schneider didn’t explain how the top-rated late-night show could possibly be described as “not serving consumers.”