MORNING HEADLINES | CBS said Thursday that it was canceling the most-watched show in late night, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, and ending a franchise that has existed for more than three decades.
CBS executives said in a statement that the cancellation was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”
But the announcement comes just three days after Colbert, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, panned a $16 million settlement of a lawsuit by Trump over interview edits in an October 2024 interview by Democratic candidate Kamala Harris with CBS’s “60 Minutes.” Colbert on Monday called the settlement a “big fat bribe.”
Colbert grew up in Charleston and still has family in the area. The decision to cancel the show comes only days after it landed its sixth Emmy nomination for outstanding talk show.
“It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount,” executives said in a New York Times report. “Our admiration, affection and respect for the talents of Stephen Colbert and his incredible team made this agonizing decision even more difficult.”
Meanwhile during Thursday’s taping of The Late Show, Colbert praised the network, saying CBS leaders “have been great partners.”
The show’s abrupt cancellation is the latest in a series of profound changes to the world of late-night television. The genre has been struggling as the majority of the country migrates in droves to streaming entertainment and away from traditional broadcast and cable television. Last month, streaming overtook broadcast and cable as the leading distribution method for video entertainment for the first time.
In Friday’s issue of the Charleston City Paper:
CP OPINION: Tell your GOP congressman: Stop dumb weather forecasting cuts. “There’s a conservative way and a liberal way to invest. The conservative mantra is to use strategies that reduce risk and seek stable growth. The liberal way is to accept additional risk so you can get potentially better returns.”
- CP CARTOONS: Stegelin: At the movies
- CP CARTOONS: Ariail: Budget cuts.
CP NEWS: Hurricane cuts could create forecasting havoc. With the Trump administration’s huge ongoing and planned cuts to federal staff and funding of the nation’s storm forecasting abilities, the storms of the future may pose more of a risk than ever before. And it’s not because of climate change. It’s because of changes that will scale back forecasting.
CP NEWS: Edisto Natchez-Kusso leader reflects on tribal survival. Colleton County resident John Glenn Creel, chief of the Edisto Natchez-Kusso tribe of South Carolina, points to his father’s enlistment in the U.S. Navy as an example of how society tries to erase the presence of Native American people.
CP NEWS: Mount Pleasant steps ahead with stricter e-bike rules. Mount Pleasant is considering changes to its current e-bike ordinance to ease the public’s concerns after increased incidents of reckless riding and illegal use of mopeds.
CP NEWS: Awendaw residents, leaders share concerns on proposed housing development. A proposed housing development along the edge of the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge in Awendaw has residents and community leaders worried about its environmental impact.
CP FOOD: Charleston’s Hachiya’s flavor bomb isn’t your regular soy sauce. If you think you know soy sauce from using what you find in the grocery aisle, that’s like claiming to be a wine expert after tasting grape juice. Soy sauce, it turns out, can have the nuance and complexity of a fine wine.
CP ARTS: Hogan: Lose your cultural flab this summer. “Many of you are no doubt idylling on some stretch of shore, perhaps with little more than a bodice-ripper of a beach read when it comes to cultural consumption.”
CP MUSIC: Metalcore group Hatebreed headlines Summer Slaughter festival on July 22. The Charleston Music Hall will become a sweaty metal club for one night only on July 22 when the Summer Slaughter tour rips into town. Six bands will brutalize the stage that Tuesday night in what are sure to be unforgettable performances.
In other headlines
Proposed $113k grant to fund mental health sessions for Charleston County jail staff. The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office says that with stronger mental health comes stronger deputies, and they’re wanting to make sure their corrections officers are mentally equipped, too.
Charleston County officials looking for solutions on quickly growing landfill. The Bees Ferry Landfill, which serves Charleston County residents, takes in anywhere between 800 and 1,300 tons of garbage per day, and approximately 200,000 tons each year.
- Charleston County assesses CARTA $41M budget.
- Charleston County Council discusses future of U.S. Highway 41.
Clinic to release diabetes study and statistics for Tri-county area. A Lowcountry free clinic will be hosting a free event Friday to share what they’ve learned about preventing diabetes in the Tri-County area.
Fox family calls Charleston Municipal Golf Course home. This summer, a mother fox and four cubs have taken up residence, according to the staff that has watched over generations of red foxes. They are such staples at the course that its clubhouse is called the Fox Den.
Court filing targets Mace, alleged sexual assault victim in legal battle. Attorneys representing a company owned by the former fiancé of U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., filed a court petition against Mace and an alleged sexual assault victim in an ongoing legal battle.
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