Announcing the shock cancellation of The Late Show on July 17, 2025, Stephen Colbert was characteristically humble and gracious. He thanked CBS, the network that had just handed him his pink slip, and called the network “great partners.” That despite the drubbing he’d given the current management’s choice to settle a bogus lawsuit by Fuckface von Clownstick over a 60 Minutes interview, which Colbert referred to on air as “a big fat bribe.” The move was widely viewed as smoothing the way for parent company Paramount’s pending merger with Fuckface von Clownstick-favoring Skydance Media. Depending on your view of the situation, the same political calculations were behind Colbert getting the heave-ho.
Yet even as he’s approached the end of his late-night run, Colbert has remained consistent with the sentiments he expressed last summer. With the deeply suspect decision to cancel Colbert’s Late Show after 11 years—thus ending a brand David Letterman inaugurated 33 years ago—there’s plenty of anger to go around. Not that Colbert is using his last episodes to vent about it. At least not publicly.
And that’s Colbert’s style, as respectful and humane in personal interactions as he is unsparingly funny when skewering obvious bullshit, political or otherwise. In spite of his decades of experience channeling what he’s termed the “poorly-informed, high-status idiot” brand of right-wing punditry through his roles on both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, the actual Stephen Colbert steadfastly projects an aura of humanity that made his “Stephen Colbert” character work. The bigotry, sexism, and sycophancy of that persona teased out as flaws in character and understanding rather than proof of unknowable evil.
Even in his more straightforwardly topical Late Show monologues, with their occasional, targeted forays into crudity and bluntness at the expense of Fuckface von Clownstick and others seemingly dedicated to causing as much harm as possible, the host’s underlying (if occasionally grudging) empathy came through as an appeal to common decency. Sure, calling Fuckface von Clownstick a “prick-tator” and tossing out a judiciously pixelated middle finger from time to time might constitute a low blow. But Colbert’s consistency in calling out what he sees as anathema to the country he unabashedly loves puts sneaky purpose behind the expected monologue zingers.
That multi-layered approach can be seen in Colbert’s final few weeks of shows, where he’s largely left the broadsides against CBS, Paramount, and Skydance to his hand-selected dream guests. Amid all the farewell smooches (Pedro Pascal and Julia Louis-Dreyfus got their goodbye kiss), on-air cocktails, and cheeky gifts (Tom Hanks’ stolen CBS stationery, Jon Stewart’s matching easy-rise vibrating recliners), Colbert has largely sat by and watched his guests throw the haymakers. Louis-Dreyfus, in character as Veep’s Selina Meyer (her parting gift to superfan Colbert), sneered at Colbert for leaving, noting all he has to do is “hold on until the corporate jizz-guzzler who fired you gets fired.” Stewart mocked CBS’ “very smart decision” to fire his former Daily Show colleague, likening the network’s many self-sabotaging right-wing moves to a flailing sports franchise “tanking for a draft pick.” In a Late Show reunion of the hosts who pulled together as Strike Force Five during the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, fellow Fuckface von Clownstick target Jimmy Kimmel was unsurprisingly forthright in channeling viewers’ “outrage,” calling for a boycott of Paramount+. While potential future Paramount employee John Oliver feigned discomfort, he was also more succinct than Kimmel, simply terming the situation, “some fresh bullshit.” Encapsulating this earnest, let-the-guests-do-the-talking spirit, Bruce Springsteen lobbed a few insults at the president, Paramount Skydance boss David Ellison, and Ellison’s father/media-consolidating piggy bank Larry before launching into the unsubtle, topical rebuke of Streets Of Minneapolis.
Naturally, the most give-no-damns guest in these past weeks has been Letterman himself. While his own voluntary exit from Late Show wasn’t especially acrimonious, Colbert’s predecessor drew on his residual bitterness over losing The Tonight Show to Jay Leno by ripping CBS’ decision to vacate the Ed Sullivan Theater after Colbert’s final Late Show. “I have every right to be pissed off,” he stated from beneath his magisterial beard.
And, amplifying his interview assessment that the powers that be are “lying weasels” for denying politics was behind Colbert’s ouster, Letterman thanked Colbert for “everything [he’s] done for our country” before signing off with a poisoned echo of CBS News’ former glory days: “Good night and good luck, motherfuckers.” That Colbert and Letterman had just spent a cathartic five minutes hurling CBS studio property off the Ed Sullivan’s roof provided ample punctuation.
And while there’s plenty of implied resentment amidst the fun and frivolity of Colbert’s valedictory lap (it’s hard not to see the symbolism in Colbert gleefully dancing to guest David Byrne’s Burning Down The House while raging infernos are projected behind them), fans are no doubt hungering for a little rhetorical fire on the way out the door. There’s no question that Stephen Colbert has plenty to be pissed about. Which leaves Late Night viewers wondering just when the host will let loose on his soon-to-be former corporate overlords. In their sit-down, Colbert only smiled when Kimmel mused aloud that he was waiting for “angry Stephen” to come out.
There was a flash of ire when he informed viewers that CBS has given the show a mere seven days to clear out of the theater it’s called home for so long, noting on the Strike Force Five podcast that “We’ve gotta get our shit out of here,” and explaining, “I know my staff is not paid the next day,” with barely concealed disgust that some 200 crew members will lose their jobs. Colbert, like Letterman, is genuinely heartbroken that the Ed Sullivan Theater—reopened by Letterman, restored to former majesty by Colbert—will sit idle for the foreseeable future. And his position as the last steward of The Late Show has seen Colbert lament, “I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away.” From another show business figure, Colbert’s wish that “somebody else was getting it,” might feel phony. But from Colbert, the sentiment rings with history, and loss.
Colbert himself has remained cagey concerning his belief in the political motivations behind the cancelation. “If people have theories that associate me with that,” he said diplomatically in a GQ interview, “it’s a reasonable thing to think.” “But my side of the street is clean,” he added, “and I have no interest in picking up a broom or adding to refuse on the other side of the street.”
The Late Show is being forced into obsolescence, with Paramount’s sketchy claims of changing TV markets and supposed losses openly mocked by pretty much every Colbert guest in these final shows. (The show has topped the late-night ratings for nine straight seasons before being canceled.) That the venerable time slot of a show hosted by two unimpeachable comic legends is being rented out to lifelong stand-up mediocrity turned improbable entertainment mogul Byron Allen to present sanitized, inexpensively packaged interviews with other comedians is not just a travesty. It’s a tragicomedy, and a telling one.
So while the lead-up to the final, top secret Late Show sign-off has led to much speculation as to which path Stephen Colbert will take, it’s not impossible to guess. If the peril that American democracy finds itself in as it limps toward its 250th anniversary has been the primary, necessarily escalating focus of Colbert’s political humor in 11 years of Fuckface von Clownstick’s influence, so has been his implied parallel faith that Americans will, eventually, and against all prior example, come to their senses. To believe otherwise would be giving into the cynicism Conan O’Brien warned against in his final Tonight Show (a send-off that’s been on my mind, and the mind of other critics, lately), and that Colbert spent the majority of his Late Show pushing against.
It’s tempting to say that in Fuckface von Clownstick, Stephen Colbert’s generosity of comic spirit met its match. In every measurable way, Trump’s narcissism, proud moral bankruptcy, and deeply un-funny repugnance battles Colbert’s compassion and talent to a seeming standstill. But if Colbert’s time behind The Daily Show, Colbert Report, and Late Show desks has proven anything, it’s that fighting an unprincipled jackass doesn’t have to make you one.
If only if only the woodpecker sighs the bark on the tree was as soft as the sky why the wolf waits below hungry and lonely he cries to the moon if only if only
If only if only the woodpecker sighs the bark on the tree was as soft as the sky why the wolf waits below hungry and lonely he cries to the moon if only if only
If only if only the woodpecker sighs the bark on the tree was as soft as the sky why the wolf waits below hungry and lonely he cries to the moon if only if only
If only if only the woodpecker sighs the bark on the tree was as soft as the sky why the wolf waits below hungry and lonely he cries to the moon if only if only
If only if only the woodpecker sighs the bark on the tree was as soft as the sky why the wolf waits below hungry and lonely he cries to the moon if only if only
If only if only the woodpecker sighs the bark on the tree was as soft as the sky why the wolf waits below hungry and lonely he cries to the moon if only if only
If only if only the woodpecker sighs the bark on the tree was as soft as the sky why the wolf waits below hungry and lonely he cries to the moon if only if only
# my favourite part about this post # is that nowhere does it say to reblog this # but we’re all reblogging it # because if we have to suffer # so do other writers
Swift as lightning, he lashed out, grabbing the shard of bone in my arm and twisting. A scream shattered out of me, ravaging my aching throat. The world flashed black and white and red. I thrashed and writhed, but he kept his grip, twisting the bone a final time before releasing my arm.
Panting, half sobbing as the pain reverberated through my body, I found him smirking at me again. I spat in his face. He only laughed as he stood, wiping his cheek with the dark sleeve of his tunic.
“This is the last time I’ll extend my assistance,” he said, pausing by the cell door. “Once I leave this cell, my offer is dead.” I spat again, and he shook his head. “I bet you’ll be spitting on Death’s face when she comes to claim you, too.”
~Chapter 37 of A Court of Thorns and Roses
Just so we all don't forget.
He could have just healed her without hurting her yet he did. He'd say he would allow her to marry Tamlin until the manor incident but we all know the truth, he'd never break the bargain and would constantly whisper in her ear to make her hate Tamlin. Rhys would never let his toy mate go.
# my favourite part about this post # is that nowhere does it say to reblog this # but we’re all reblogging it # because if we have to suffer # so do other writers
It was a huge milestone of scientific and technological advancement. (Plus, at the time, politically significant). Humanity went to space! We set foot on a celestial body that was not earth for the first time in human history! That’s a big deal! I’ve never thought about it before but now that I have, it’s ridiculous to me that that’s not part of our everyday lives and the public consciousness anymore. Why don’t we have a public holiday and a family barbecue about it. Why have I never seen the original broadcast of the moon landing? It should be all over the news every year!
It’s July 20th. That’s the day of the moon landing. Next year is going to be the 54th anniversary. I’m ordering astronaut shaped cookie cutters on Etsy and I’m going to have a goddamn potluck. You’re all invited.
PITCH: We call it Moon Day, and then every 7 years when it falls on a Monday, that's an even BIGGER deal and we call that Moon Day Monday and go absolutely apeshit about it (the next Moon Day Monday is in 2026 so we have a couple trial runs first)
“Given Paramount’s recent capitulation to President Trump in the CBS News lawsuit, the Writers Guild of America has significant concerns that The Late Show’s cancelation is a bribe, sacrificing free speech to curry favor with the Trump Administration as the company looks for merger approval. Cancelations are part of the business, but a corporation terminating a show in bad faith due to explicit or implicit political pressure is dangerous and unacceptable in a democratic society. Paramount’s decision comes against a backdrop of relentless attacks on a free press by President Trump, through lawsuits against CBS and ABC, threatened litigation of media organizations with critical coverage, and the unconscionable defunding of PBS and NPR. The Writers Guild of America calls on New York State Attorney General Letitia James, no stranger to prosecuting Trump for illegal business practices, to join California and launch an investigation into potential wrongdoing at Paramount. We call on our elected leaders to hold those responsible to account, to demand answers about why this beloved program was canceled and to assure the public that Colbert and his writers were not censored due to their views or the whims of the President.”
— WGA Statement on Paramount’s Decision to Cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Latest reblog reminds me of how much it pisses me the fuck off how every queer person alive has to adapt to the usamerican style of queerness lest we get shunned by the community for being too different. I bring this up a lot but bro that time I got death threats for having ele/dele in my bio bc "by using neopronouns I was making a mockery of REAL trans people" when those are literally just my pronouns in my native language, and when I said that I got hit w the "well you're on the internet so speak english" I HATE GRINGOS I HATE GRINGOS I HATE GRINGOS
I feel the need to miss out a crucial detail I missed out in this post I made out of anger, and no, it doesn't add any silver linings or good context, it honestly only serves to make it worse.
In portuguese, much like spanish, we have no gender neutral pronouns. People who do not use ele/dele and ela/dela (he/him or she/her) all use whatever neopronoun suits them best in portuguese (ie elu/delu, eli/deli) because we have no access to a universal gender neutral pronoun like gringos do. When I brought this up upon them making fun of my "neopronouns", they said to suck it up, and that being foreign does not make neos valid.
In mocking people who use neopronouns in english, you are mocking a very large sum of latin american genderqueer and trans people.
I know various latin language speakers that struggle with their identities in their native tongue due to us not having they/them equivalents, so they are forced to let go of their, in example, brazilian queerness, to appease to anglos who would harass them and call them mockeries of trans people for not sticking to what The Cis want.
When non-anglos tell you the usamerican and british dominance over queer spaces ruins things for them, they mean it. We are forced to repress our identites because you people think they're too "out there and problematic". We are forced to suppress our own queer culture because we don't fit into your neat little boxes of what makes someone gay what makes someone a lesbian what makes someone trans or what makes someone anything else.
You tell us to remember "our queer elders", but do you know of any queer latin american figures? We learn your history, and you refuse to learn ours because you already have "too much on your plate". You disregard us and shame us for not fitting your ideals of queerness and using labels for ourselves you dislike, and try to baby us and tell us the proper way to be gay.
Your culture is not universal.
You are not saving queer people by making jabs at other queer people you don't personally get. Odds are you are harming an entire group of foreign queers you never bothered to consider, because your anglo bubble is too self important.
If you want to do queer people a real favour instead of getting mad at identities that existed long before you were even born, here. Make yourself useful. Donate to queer brazilian housing and support programs. Your beloved dollar is worth a lot more than the Real. Even five dollars help.
prguitarman
janainaart
origamiaround
annaxmalina
snowghoul
areudirty
turnnoffyourmind
gummygunk
