Samantha Bee Says Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ Was ‘Hemorrhaging Money’ and ‘People Aren’t Tuning In’: It’s a ‘No-Brainer’ to Cancel Amid Paramount-Skydance Merger

Former late-night host Samantha Bee is giving her take on CBS cancelling “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”

During a recent appearance on the “Breaking Bread with Tom Papa” podcast, Bee said she believes that ending Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” was a “financial decision,” as cited by CBS, but also thinks it was in part to “curry favor with the president” amid the merger between Paramount, CBS’ parent company, and Skydance.

“I think both things are true,” she said. “It definitely was hemorrhaging money. These legacy shows are hemorrhaging money with no real end to that…in sight, people are just not tuning in.”

Bee added, “People are literally on their phones all the time for one thing, so they actually don’t necessarily need a recap of the day’s events. They’re very well-versed in what has happened.”

She went on to explain that while hosting her TBS show “Full Frontal,” which ran for seven seasons from 2016 to 2022, not stirring controversy during network mergers was a “constant source of conversation.” From her experience, it seemed like a “no-brainer” for CBS to end “The Late Show.”

“It’s so much easier for them to cut it loose with this merger coming down the pike,” Bee said. “It makes the decision such a no-brainer, and probably the most agonizing decisions they were having were about how do we float this? How do we not get a lot of blowback? I’m sure they knew it was happening a long time ago.”

Although blunt about the fate of Colbert’s “Late Show,” she still thinks the sudden cancellation was “awful.”

“I love Stephen,” she said. “I consider him to be a friend. I think he’s amazing. I’m shocked, not surprised.”