Any surefire expectations one might have had for the back half of the 2025 TV schedule went out the stage set’s decorative window panels when CBS shockingly canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ahead of what would have been the titular comedian’s 11th season behind the desk. Though the late night staple still has a year left, the decision has left many entertainers fuming and confused, with clashing reports about why the show is ending. Then along came Jon Stewart.
I’m sure wasn’t alone in expecting The Daily Show’s most celebrated host to have a pointed opinion about The Late Show’s confirmed demise, and Stewart did not disappoint during his latest appearance. Although it should also surprise no one that he started his fevered speech off not with a bang or a whimper, but with a joke. Addressing the cancellation to a wall of audience jeers, Stewart said:
[waves away audience's booing] In this case, I'll allow it.
Cue Jon Stewart's cheeky mug:
The NYC native then offered a brief backstory that touched upon the high-quality pre-2016 era when they shared the screen and Daily Show stage on a nightly basis for years, and then gave Colbert lots of kudos for making the leap to succeed the iconic David Letterman’s Late Show mastery. But then the good vibes turn to sour grapes as the cancellation is once again addressed.
Sardonically pinning the decision to axe both Colbert’s run and the entirety of the Late Show franchise on “purely financial reasons,” Stewart said that within that model, everyone else is basically working a “Blockbuster kiosk inside a Tower Records.” Which is to say, putting a failing hat on a failing hat. The host continued drilling down on CBS' financial choices tying into parent company Paramount Global nearing an $8 billion merger with Skydance Media, saying:
I understand the corporate fear. I understand the fear that you and your advertisers have with $8 billion at stake, but understand this, truly: the shows that you now seek to cancel, censor and control, a not insignificant portion of that $8 billion value came from those fucking shows. That’s what made you that money.
This element is indeed always the most baffling thing about network mergers to me, although I'll be the first to concede that I am sorely lacking in background knowledge. But it does seem non-intuitive to eliminate any of the long-running brands that helped make a network or studio worth acquiring in the first place.
Stewart continued, saying that while he understands the Daily Show's limitations as a comedy-driven talk show, he still stands strongly by the idea that this show and others are meant to be there to entertain and inform without a financial overhead being a deciding factor. As he put it:
Shows that say something, shows that take a stand, shows that are unafraid. Believe me, this is not a ‘We speak truth to power.’ We don’t; we speak opinions to television cameras, but we try. We fucking try every night, and if you believe, as corporations or as networks, you can make yourselves so innocuous that you can serve a gruel so flavorless that you will never again be on the boy king’s radar, A. why will anyone watch you? And you are fucking wrong.
Naturally, Jon Stewart also strikes a political chord by addressing CBS and Paramount's legal dealings with Donald Trump, stemming largely from POTUS' recently settled lawsuit against 60 Minutes, as a major factor, with the idea being that the network is scrubbing content that could be skewed as politically subversive.
Then rather unnaturally, the frontman temporarily launches into a spoken-word rendition of Bob Seger's "We've Got Tonight" before revealing a six-piece choir behind the curtains. And I'd be viewers have never heard a more soulful rendition of the phrase "Go fuck yourself," that what played out.
If anyone manages to miscontrue Jon Stewart's message here, I don't want that person to be in charge of anything important.
The entire June 21 installment of The Daily Show can be streamed below, with the Late Show-related reactions happening around the 16:30 mark.
The Daily Show airs weeknights on Comedy Central at 11:00 p.m. ET, with Jon Stewart popping in every Monday. Past episodes can be streamed with a Paramount+ subscription.
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