Last Wednesday, Stephen Colbert, the icon of political satire of the late night Americans, let their viewers know that CBS canceled his show. It won't be lightning fast. The late show It will end, if nothing changes, in May of next year. They are ending the format, surely due to the discomfort that the genre causes them. The fact that Colbert is the ratings leader has made the political interpretation of the events inevitable. A concession to the threatening pressure from Trump, a daily target for Colbert's darts. Days before the decision was announced, the host denounced on the same program that Paramount Global—the parent corporation—had paid Trump $16 million for a lawsuit over an old interview on the show. 60 minutes where the president believed he had been defamed. It was revealed by the New York Times. Colbert humorously criticized the institutional corruption in that case, because the agreement coincides with corporate interests that require approval from the Federal Communications Commission and, therefore, the Trump administration. Upon returning from vacation, Colbert called it "abig, hat bribe" (a huge bribe) and made his disappointment with the company public. Three days later, he received the cancellation notice.
However, the host hasn't let up. In subsequent monologues, he has strongly attacked Trump, first for the birthday greeting he sent to Jeffrey Epstein, highlighting the friendly and secretive bond between the two. The following day, he also echoed the reports about the three minutes missing from the video from Epstein's cell cameras from the day he was found dead. He also took issue with the pile of lies Trump told about his uncle. On Monday, Colbert also reacted to Trump's tweet where he welcomed his firing and named Jimmy Kimmel as the next to fall. "Go fuck yourself!" He responded with a smile and claimed the right to be the only boss who would film: "No way! I'll be the only martyr! There's only room for one on this cross. And I have to tell you something. The view from up here is fantastic. I can even see your house!" he said to Trump. Colbert joked about the fact that Paramount had cited strictly financial reasons for terminating his contract and joked about the $16 million they had paid Trump to achieve the desired merger. On the show, they parodied a Coldplay performance to show the audience's joy: Jimmy Fallon, Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers, John Oliver, Anderson Cooper and Adam Sandler, among other celebrities, were in the stands in support of their colleague.
Colbert has never lost his biting and optimistic tone. He has never adopted the role of the victim. He has maintained a combative attitude without being sour, sloppy or aggressive. These ten months he has left at CBS are promising. The late show has become a stronghold of forcefulness against Trump that is very interesting to follow.
