<p id=”par-1_47″>Tonight, Stephen Colbert will air the final show of his 11-year late-night career. Fans and fellow late-night hosts have mourned the <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/cbs-forfeiting-late-night-crown-canceling-stephen-colbert-expert.html/”>cancellation of his show</a>, and many believe the decision to end the <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/stephen-colbert-said-donald-trump-needs-learn-pick-battles.html/”>show was political</a>. Many of Colbert’s late-night colleagues have spoken out in his support.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-jimmy-kimmel-encouraged-people-to-stop-watching-cbs-after-stephen-colbert-s-show-ends”>Jimmy Kimmel encouraged people to stop watching CBS after Stephen Colbert’s show ends</h2>
<p id=”par-2_30″>Jimmy Kimmel will not air a new show on May 21 out of respect for Colbert’s last show. He said he is <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/stephen-colbert-admits-cbs-saved-life-late-show-cancellation.html/”>not happy with CBS</a> for canceling the show. </p>
<p id=”par-3_84″>“I think you know how I feel about the fact that they are <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/jimmy-kimmel-scored-legal-victory-week-show-returned-air.html/”>being pushed out</a>,” Kimmel said. “I hope the people who did the pushing feel ashamed of themselves tonight, although I know they probably won’t. But that being said, I think it is most important to congratulate Stephen and the team at <em>The Late Show</em> for all the great work over the last 11 years, and all the great work he will continue to do in other venues, I have no doubt.”</p>
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<iframe title=”A fond farewell to Stephen Colbert and our pals at The Late Show 🙌💙” width=”563″ height=”1000″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/YA4v5RvGQGI?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p id=”par-4_14″>He encouraged his audience to watch Colbert’s show, and then never watch CBS again.</p>
<p id=”par-5_36″>“I will be watching tomorrow night,” he said. “I hope that those of you who watch our show will also tune into CBS, for the last time. Don’t ever watch it again, but watch tomorrow night.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-another-late-night-host-ended-his-show-with-a-shout-out-to-stephen-colbert”>Another late-night host ended his show with a shout-out to Stephen Colbert</h2>
<p id=”par-6_30″>At the end of his May 17 show, <em>Last Week Tonight</em> host John Oliver shouted out Colbert. He told his audience to tune in for Colbert’s final week of shows.</p>
<p id=”par-7_17″>“Please enjoy Colbert’s final shows!” he shouted. “He’s the f***ing best. Good night, and good luck, motherf***ers,”</p>
<p id=”par-8_20″>This echoed the words of CBS journalist Ed Murrow, who ended a 1940 broadcast with, “Good night, and good luck.”</p>
<p id=”par-9_16″>David Letterman said something similar on a recent episode of <em>The Late Show With Stephen Colbert</em>.</p>
<p id=”par-10_16″>“In the words of the great Ed Murrow, good night and good luck, motherf***ers,” he said.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-seth-meyers-said-he-s-heartbroken-about-the-end-of-the-show”>Seth Meyers said he’s heartbroken about the end of the show</h2>
<p id=”par-11_36″>After Colbert’s show goes off the air, billionaire Byron Allen will take over the time slot. CBS is essentially renting it out to him. Meyers believes it is a shame to completely lose a late-night show.</p>
<p id=”par-12_71″>“I’m heartbroken,” he told <a href=”https://deadline.com/2026/05/seth-meyers-on-final-episode-colbert-show-1236917427/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Deadline</a>. “It’s very sad to lose a colleague and even sadder to lose a time slot. It would be one thing if Stephen was leaving and a younger person was getting a chance to have one of these jobs that are — as someone who’s experienced it — so exciting to have. So just in general, I think it’s a very sad week for television in America.”</p>
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<p id=”par-13_11″>Still, he said he is looking forward to Colbert’s next chapter.</p>
<p id=”par-14_48″>“I’m also very optimistic that Stephen’s next chapter is going to be exciting for him and for the rest of us,” Meyers said. “I think he’s been slow-playing this as what his next step was going to be for years and I’m very excited it’s going to happen.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-a-late-night-legend-has-criticized-cbs-for-the-stephen-colbert-s-cancellation-nbsp”>A late-night legend has criticized CBS for the Stephen Colbert’s cancellation </h2>
<p id=”par-15_54″>Before Colbert took over <em>The Late Show</em>, David Letterman was at its helm. He has heavily criticized CBS for ending the show. He believes the decision came because CBS’s parent company, Paramount, was about to merge with Skydance. The Trump administration needed to approve the merger, and Colbert has been very critical of them. </p>
<p id=”par-16_77″>“He was dumped because the people selling the network to Skydance said, ‘Oh no, there’s not going to be any trouble with that guy. We’re going to take care of the show. We’re just going to throw that into the deal. When will the ink on the check dry?’” Letterman told <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/arts/television/david-letterman-stephen-colbert-the-late-show-cbs.html” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>The New York Times</a>. “I’m just going to go on record as saying: They’re lying. Let me just add one other thing, Jason. They’re lying weasels.”</p>
<p id=”par-17_15″>He has also said that <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/david-letterman-grim-prediction-future-tv-stephen-colbert-cancellation.html/”>this is a bad sign</a> for late-night television in general.</p>