Jul 27, 2025 minute read

Fewer than two dozen people turned out Sunday at a Manhattan protest backing outgoing Late Show host Stephen Colbert, a turnout so small that even NYPD officers on hand began leaving shortly after the demonstration began.

The “We’re With Colbert” rally was staged outside the CBS Broadcast Center on Manhattan’s West Side. Organizers said the event was part of a larger national movement focused on defending “integrity” and free speech, reports the New York Post.

“This is a First Amendment attack,” said one protester who declined to provide her name. “We can’t stand for that.”

The demonstration came after CBS’s decision to cancel The Late Show Stephen Colbert. The decision, it seems, ,was driven by the late-night program losing between $40 million and $50 million per year, according to a report by the New York Post.

Colbert announced earlier this month on-air that CBS had informed him this would be the final season of the show, with its end slated for May 2026.

CBS previously described the decision to end The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as “purely a financial decision,” claiming it was not related to the program’s content or ratings. However, new reporting from the New York Post suggests the show’s financial strain on the network had become increasingly unsustainable.

According to unnamed sources cited by the outlet, CBS executives were concerned about a sharp drop in advertising revenue linked to Colbert’s show—even though it remained the top-rated program in its time slot. Paramount Co-CEO George Cheeks is said to have ultimately made the decision to cancel the show.

“Colbert might be No. 1, but who watches late night TV anymore?” one insider reportedly said. “There’s no ad money coming in.”

The cancellation has also raised political questions, particularly in light of Paramount’s recent $16 million legal settlement with President Donald Trump. Trump had filed suit against the network over its editing of a 60 Minutes segment featuring Kamala Harris. Some Democrats believe the settlement and the show’s termination may be connected.

“CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump — a deal that looks like bribery,” Senator Elizabeth Warren posted on X. “America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.”

Others have raised questions about the timing of the cancellation in light of Paramount’s pending $8 billion sale to Skydance Media, which will require regulatory approval from the Trump administration. Skydance CEO David Ellison is the son of tech billionaire Larry Ellison, a known Trump supporter.

However, the Post noted that sources close to the deal said Skydance and its equity partner, RedBird Capital, were only informed of the show’s cancellation shortly before the public announcement.

“Skydance had nothing to do with this,” a source told the outlet. “Colbert loses $40 million to $50 million a year, so George Cheeks just decided to pull the plug.”

The network has suffered from declining viewership overall, especially as younger audiences move away from cable television. The ad data firm Guideline estimated that CBS’s late-night lineup brought in an estimated $220 million in ad revenue in 2024, half of what it earned in 2018.

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