The "Late Show" by Stephen Colbert bows out, latest victim of Trump’s war on the media

Final series of hilarious jokes, absurd sketches and Paul McCartney as guest of honor: Stephen Colbert hosted the latest “Late Show” on CBS on Thursday, May 21, the latest chapter in Donald Trump’s war against the media he considers hostile.

A harsh critic of the president, whom he trashes almost every evening on the air, the 62-year-old comedian curiously spared him for his latest show, preferring to highlight his guests, like the 83-year-old former Beatles, who sang Hello, Goodbye for the occasion.

“We were planning on doing a huge special tonight, but the thing is, we like to think that every episode of the “Late Show” is somehow special and the best way to celebrate what we’ve done for the last eleven years was to just do a normal broadcast”he said.

The announcement of the end of this thirty-three year old late-night show dates back to the summer. The comedian had shortly before described “thick pot-of-wine“a $16 million deal made with Donald Trump by the channel’s parent company, Paramount, following a dispute concerning the editing of an interview with his ex-presidential rival, Kamala Harris.

CBS insisted the decision to cancel The Late Show – the audience leader in its niche – was purely financial, unrelated to Paramount’s efforts to obtain government approval for its $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media.

But many voices, starting with that of the host, saw the hand of the American president, in open war against the media which he considers to be hostile to him. On several occasions, the latter had judged that CBS was “hours of control“, calling Stephen Colbert “épave pathétique“devant ªtre mis”hors service“. Since then, a right-wing opinion journalist, Bari Weiss, has been appointed head of CBS News, where she undertook an overhaul of the teams. During the night, the billionaire shamelessly rejoiced at the disappearance of the show. “Unbelievable he lasted so long!” he wrote on his Truth Social network. “No talent, no audience, no life. He was like a dead man. You could pick up anyone off the street, they’d be better than this complete moron. Thank goodness he’s finally gone!“

In the weeks preceding the last broadcast, several prestigious guests flocked to his set, essentially hostile to the tenant of the White House, such as former President Barack Obama, singer Bruce Springsteen, director Steven Spielberg, actors Robert de Niro and Tom Hanks.

Stephen Colbert was visibly moved last week when he was joined on the show by his colleagues and competitors from other channels – Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, John Oliver and Jimmy Fallon – who came to show their support. On Thursday, they appeared on the show again for a sketch, with comedian Jon Stewart. Jimmy Kimmel was himself briefly canceled in September by his ABC channel after an outcry in Republican ranks over a remark he made about the assassination of ultra-conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.

For the future, Stephen Colbert suggested that he could consider a new show, without further details. “A lot of people ask me what I’m going to do now… The answer is: take drugs”he joked Thursday evening. A big fan of the world of the British writer Tolkien, he will above all co-write a new film based on the Lord of the Rings with New Zealand director Peter Jackson, who adapted the trilogy for cinema.