Stephen Colbert had a few choice words for President Donald Trump after The Late Show was canceled.
“I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings,” Trump, 79, shared via his Truth Social page on Friday, July 18, just a day after Colbert, 61, announced his show’s cancellation.
Well, Colbert fired back Monday, July 21, during a fiery opening monologue on The Late Show.
“How dare you, sir?” the comedian quipped after reading out Trump’s post. “Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism?” he continued before turning directly to the camera and declaring, “Go f*** yourself.”
Trump’s post Friday not only took aim at Colbert, but fellow late night comrades Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon. “I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert! Greg Gutfeld is better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show,” he wrote.
Addressing the speculation about Kimmel, 57, Colbert joked that there was only room for one canceled late night talk show host.
“Nope! No, no. Absolutely not, Kimmel,” Colbert said. “I am the martyr! OK? There’s only room for one on this cross. And I gotta tell you, the view is fantastic from up here!”
Elsewhere in his monologue, Colbert declared that he is going to be more unfiltered than ever over the next 10 months before The Late Show goes off the air in May 2026.
“The gloves are off,” he said.
He continued, “I can finally speak unvarnished truth to power and say what I really think about Donald Trump — starting right now … I don’t care for him.”
As well as addressing the cancellation, Colbert received some in-studio moral support from some of his fellow talk show hosts, including Fallon and Seth Meyers, who appeared in the studio audience.
Colbert first revealed The Late Show’s cancellation during the Thursday, July 17, episode of the show.
“Before we start the show, I want to let you know something that I found out just last night: Next year will be our last season, the network [CBS] will be ending The Late Show in May,” he shared with the studio audience.
“I share your feelings,” he said as the audience broke into a chorus of boos. “It’s not just the end of our show, but it’s the end of The Late Show on CBS. I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away. I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners … And I’m grateful to the audience, you, who have joined us every night, in here, out there, and all around the world.”
In a statement issued the same day, CBS said the move was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night” and “is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at [parent company] Paramount.”
“The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will end its historic run in May 2026 at the end of the broadcast season,” the network said in its statement. “We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire The Late Show franchise at that time. We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television.”
