On Wednesday, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert began with an announcement by the host.
Skipping the jokes for his opening, Colbert shared a sincere moment with his viewers.
Colbert told his audience in studio and at home:
"I want to let you know something that I found out just last night. Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending the Late Show in May."
You can watch the moment here:
Colbert paused for the audience's reaction, then continued:
"And, yeah, I share your feelings. 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."
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The late night host shared his gratitude.
"And I do want to say I––I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners. I'm so grateful to the Tiffany Network for giving me this chair and this beautiful theater to call home."
"And of course, I'm grateful to you, the audience, who have joined us every night in here, out there, all around the world, Mr. and Mrs. America, and all the ships at sea."
"I'm grateful to share the stage with this band, these artists over here every night. And I am extraordinarily deeply grateful to the 200 people who work here. We get to do this show. We get to do this show for each other every day, all day."
"And I've had the pleasure and the responsibility of sharing what we do every day with you in front of this camera for the last 10 years. And let me tell you, it is a fantastic job."
Colbert then expressed his disappointment that the show was ending completely.
"I wish somebody else was getting it. And it's a job that I'm looking forward to doing with this usual gang of idiots for another 10 months. It's going to be fun."
"Yeah. Y'all ready? Lock in. Y'all ready? Let's go. Y'all ready?"
"Okay, that's all I wanted to say."
As news of the cancelation spread, Colbert's colleagues, friends and fans expressed their affection and their support for the host.
Jimmy Kimmel saluted The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, but had little praise for CBS in his reaction on Instagram.
Kimmel captioned it with a reference to the three CBS series based around character Sheldon Cooper:
"Love you Stephen. F*ck you and all your Sheldons CBS."
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Kimmel wasn't alone in condemning CBS.
Many made a connection to parent company Paramount's payoff to Republican President Donald Trump and a planned merger that requires approval by the Trump administration as the real reason for axing Colbert's show. Colbert had been critical of the payout in particular and Trump in general.
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Bribery, coercion, and Trump's need for petty revenge were cited.
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Several people found Trump’s reaction to the news very telling.
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CBS's announcement about the fate of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert came about two weeks after parent company Paramount paid Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit Paramount described as without merit.
It also came after Colbert criticized the settlement and then went on vacation.
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Trump accused 60 Minutes of deceptively editing an interview with then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
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The settlement was seen as a bribe or coercion.
Paying off Trump would speed federal approval on the planned deal for Skydance Media to buy Paramount.
But some people saw a silver lining.
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In the words of Stephen Colbert, "y'all ready? Lock in. Y'all ready? Let's go."
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