CBS ‘capitulated’ to Trump in canceling Colbert, ‘Late Shift’ author claims
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Longtime reporter Bill Carter claimed that President Donald Trump was “personally involved” in the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s show, based on Trump’s reaction to the series finale.
“This is obviously not a good development for the country,” Carter said on MS Now’s “The Weekend” on Saturday. “Certainly the idea that he threw a man into a dumpster at the end of the incident suggests that he was personally involved.”
Carter was talking about a video created and published by artificial intelligence. Trump’s official X account Trump’s performance included him grabbing Colbert and throwing him into a large trash can, and dancing to Village People’s “YMCA” after the show.
COLBERT APPEARED ON CBS AND SAID THE CANCELLATION STRENGTHENED THE ‘KNEELING’ NARRATIVE TOWARDS TRUMP
The series finale of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” aired on May 21. (Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images)
Carter, who wrote the book “The Late Shift” based on former “Late Show” host David Letterman’s feud with “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno, was among several commentators who believed Trump’s ongoing feud with Colbert was a factor in the show’s ending.
“The government was trying to get rid of this guy because he was a critic. And, you know, it’s so foreign to our values that I think most Americans – even people who are somewhat neutral on this issue, maybe not his strong supporters – know that this is not something we do. We don’t do that. We don’t silence people because they criticize us. And I think anyone who is conscious of that recognizes that this is a bad situation that we’re going to have to deal with on an ongoing basis,” Carter said.
TRUMP CELEBRATES STEPHEN COLBERT’S LATE NIGHT LEAVE WITH HIS ACTUAL SOCIAL POST AT THE END OF THE MORNING
President Donald Trump shared an AI-generated video of himself throwing Stephen Colbert into a trash can after Colbert’s last performance. (Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images; Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He accused CBS of caving in to the Trump administration and claimed that most people no longer believed the network’s decision to cancel the show was based on “financial motives.”
“I think when CBS caved in on Trump’s lawsuit against ’60 Minutes,’ they were sending a signal that they weren’t going to be the independent journalism unit that they were supposed to be,” Carter said. “And to not only give up on Colbert, but to get rid of the timeslot, they basically said we’re not even the same business anymore. We’re stepping back. We’re giving up on that because maybe it would be too hard to hire someone who wouldn’t make jokes about the president.” he said.
DEMOCRATS WON BECAUSE HE THANKS STEPHEN COLBERT ONE DAY AFTER THE NIGHT SEASON ENDED
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
Reporter Bill Carter accused Trump of being involved in the cancellation of Colbert’s show. (Evan Vucci-Pool/Getty Images; Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images)
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” aired its final episode on May 21. CBS announced last summer that the series was canceled due to financial problems, a claim Colbert has frequently denied. However, at the time it was reported that “The Late Show” had lost the network. A huge figure of 40 million dollars annual.
Colbert frequently took aim at Trump in the final years of his show. An investigation by the Media Research Center found that Colbert made 3,639 jokes about President Donald Trump from January 3, 2023, through the end of his program.
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Fox News’ Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
