From left, Richard Kind, Stephen Colbert and Evelyn McGee Colbert at the Alice Tully Hall in New York, on April 27.KRISTA SCHLUETER/The New York Times
As The Late Show with Stephen Colbert gets closer to its final episode on May 21, debate continues as to the role Donald Trump has played in the talk show’s impending end.
CBS insists that it’s getting out of the postnews, comedy-and-music chat-fest business purely for financial reasons.
But David Letterman, The Late Show’s originating host, is among those who don’t buy it; he’s called the American network’s higher-ups “lying weasels.”
The widespread suspicion is that Colbert was cancelled to curry favour with the Trump administration as the network’s parent company, Paramount, sought approval for a merger with Skydance last summer.
The President, who does regularly ask networks to oust TV hosts he doesn’t like on social media, has not hidden his happiness that a long-time critic is getting the hook, posting in July: “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired.”
Less discussed and dissected in the nine months Colbert has been a dead host talking is the role Trump played in making him successful in the first place.
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Without the rise of MAGA, it’s unlikely Colbert’s version of The Late Show would have topped the late-night ratings for nine straight seasons in the U.S. (though it hasn’t, notably, here in Canada).
It’s easy to forget now given Colbert’s near statesman-like stature in certain circles that when the South Carolina-raised comedian first took over from Letterman in 2015, he was, essentially, a blank slate to viewers.
He wasn’t a stand-up – and he hadn’t hosted a late-night show as himself. He was known for a Fox News-spoofing character he played on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report, an arch-conservative clown also named Stephen Colbert.
The actual Colbert didn’t prove as popular upon launch.
While his cable comic alter-ego had been entertainingly provocative, the real deal was a long-married Catholic father of three who was almost alarmingly even-keeled and served up political humour that could have a whiff of PBS to it.
Here’s how Emily Nussbaum, The New Yorker’s TV critic at the time, registered her early impressions of the host: “He had a try-hard earnestness, a damp corporate pall; he was courtly with guests, as if modelling bipartisan behaviour.”
After an initial burst of viewership, curiosity about Colbert wore off.
The Late Show fell back behind NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in the ratings within a year and was regularly swapping spots with ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! for third place.
Colbert might have stayed an also-ran if weren’t for the election of a Republican President whose catering to conspiracists and anti-democratic urges led to a reinvigoration of the comedian’s satirical instincts.
While Fallon had tousled Trump’s hair when he had him on as a guest during the 2016 campaign, Colbert directly challenged the then-candidate to say Barack Obama was born in the U.S.A.
A few weeks after Trump’s first inauguration, Colbert crept ahead of Fallon in the ratings in the U.S. – and never looked back.
The Late Show had become the natural place for many Americans who hadn’t gone MAGA to tune in for reaction to each day’s new outrage.
Stephen Colbert arrives for The Hollywood Reporter's 'The Most Powerful People in Media,' in New York, on May 7.Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
Colbert’s viewers weren’t always watching for the biggest laughs. They were often looking for moral leadership in a time of Democratic disarray and division.
The late-night host provided that in spades after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol.
In the most meaningful monologue of his career (its seriousness amplified by the pandemic-era lack of a studio audience), Colbert asked a simple straight-to-camera question to Republicans who supported Trump: “Have you had enough?” On YouTube, this video amassed more than 12 million views.
This J6 j’accuse was perhaps the closest 21st century America has come to the “Have you no sense of decency?” moment from the McCarthy hearings in 1954
But, of course, it didn’t have the same impact in the fragmented culture of 2021.
The asterisks to Colbert’s near decade-long run at No. 1 in the U.S. must be noted: a) late-night has a fraction of the audience it once did with on-demand options available all hours and b) his competitors often beat him in the 18 to 49 demographic that most appeals to advertisers.
Colbert’s influence was likewise lessened by how, monologues aside, his comedy bits didn’t always light up social media as late-night now must.
None of his regular segments became as popular as, say, James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke or Kimmel’s Celebrities Read Mean Tweets. He never had a megaviral musical hit like Fallon’s star-studded Star Wars medley (which has more than over half a billion views online).
Instead, Colbert distinguished himself as an interviewer, based on his erudition and an ability to speak to celebrities (and politicians) human to human and heart to heart.
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One of his greatest Late Show moments came in 2019 when he asked Keanu Reeves: “What do you think happens when we die?”
After a thoughtful pause, the Canadian star responded: “I know that the ones who love us will miss us.”
This beautiful, straightforward answer inspired the creation of the Colbert Questionert, a series of more philosophical queries for guests that became a regular feature. Former U.S. president Barack Obama will be the final person to do it.
Obama’s appearances on The Late Show in Colbert’s last weeks on air are part of what feels – a steady stream of CBS and Trump jokes aside – like a “when they go low, we go high” exit that appeals to the better angels of America’s nature.
But Colbert’s performance of civility can almost look like capitulation compared to, over on ABC, the uncancelled Kimmel. That late-night host hasn’t given an inch since a politicized attempt to take him off air last fall failed – and, indeed, seems more gloves-off than ever.
(L-R) Grant Heslov, Stephen Colbert, and George Clooney attend the 51st Chaplin Award Gala honouring George Clooney at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center on April 27, in New York City.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Kimmel’s recent mock White House Correspondents’ Dinner roast in which he described Melania Trump as having “the glow of an expectant widow” was not in any way the call to assassination Team MAGA tried to twist it into.
But it was, nevertheless, an undeniably nasty joke suggesting the First Lady is eager for her older husband to kick the bucket.
And Canadians are eating it up.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Citytv has been No. 1 in late night in Canada so far in 2026, outperforming Colbert by 24 per cent, according to Rogers.
If asked which American late-night host has the most stereotypically Canadian temperament, most would no doubt pick decorous, decent Colbert – who’s consistently represented our country as a kinder, gentler alternative to the U.S.A., dating back to when he was host of The Colbert Report (where he lovingly dubbed us “America’s hat”).
But the host hasn’t been as in tune with the more complex reality of Canada of late – as was apparent in his softball interview with Justin Trudeau in 2024, a couple months before Trump’s re-election and a couple months before Trudeau stepped down as prime minister.
Both men seemed out of touch and out of steam after a decade in their respective hot seats, uncertain how to fight against an impending second round of Trumpism.
Trump giveth and Trump taketh away – and Canadians have already turned the channel to those who have their elbows up.