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David Letterman has made his first public comments about the firing of Stephen Colbert and the cancellation of the Late Show franchise, calling the decision “gutless” and an act of “pure cowardice” by Skydance’s David Ellison, the incoming owner of CBS.
Appearing on a YouTube show hosted by his former Late Show executive producer Barbara Gaines, Letterman repeatedly criticized Ellison, who he mockingly referred to as “the Ellison twins” and “the Oracle boys.” Letterman also rejected the idea that Colbert’s cancellation was solely the result of economics, as CBS had attributed it. Instead, Letterman believes — similar to Daily Show host Jon Stewart — that Colbert was a sacrificial lamb, offered to placate the Trump administration to help push the Skydance/Paramount merger over the finish line.
“If they were losing this kind of money, you’re telling me losing this kind of money happened yesterday? Yeah right. I bet they were losing this kind of money six weeks ago, or they have never been losing money,” Letterman stated. They did not do the correct thing, they did not handle Stephen Colbert, the face of the network, the way he deserved to be handle.”
“The idea that they’re hiding behind money — they’ve given [Colbert] another 10 months, that’s another huge chunk of money they’re gonna lose, according to them. I don’t think it was money. I think it was all to make sure that the Ellison twins / Oracle boys were solid spending dad’s money. I think it’s sad. But what this indicates also is that Ellison twins / Oracle boys doesn’t want any trouble along the lines of freedom of the press or free speech or freedom of expression. They don’t want to get their hands dirty. They don’t want the government going after them because you know that concept of freedom of the press and freedom of that’s so old-fashioned.
“This is pure cowardice,” Letterman continued, pointing to Paramount’s decision to settle Trump’s 60 Minutes lawsuit as further proof . “I mean you’re telling me 60 Minutes, the pinnacle of journalistic excellence and integrity for decades, and many of those decades the number one viewed show in America — they’ve they’ve decided, ‘Ah, we’re sorry. You let us give you $20 million and we’ll be more careful.’ I believe this is in the wake of that and the the Oracle Twins. Why don’t they just go buy the Dairy Queen or something? Stay out of this business.”
“I think one day, if not today, the people at CBS who have manipulated and handled this, they’re going to be embarrassed because this is gutless,” Letterman added. “I only wish this could happen to me. This would have been so great for me. Now we all got to kiss Stephen Colbert’s ring.”
Colbert took over as host of the Late Show from David Letterman beginning in 2015, and has held the No. 1 spot in the 11:35 p.m. time slot since 2017. He will hosted the show until its final episode in May 2026.
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