Why was Colbert Report cancelled? 2014 #CancelColbert controversy explored amid Stephen Colbert’s late show cancellation

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is coming to an end, the host confirmed during the July 17 episode. CBS will cancel the TV program after its 11th season in May 2026. Colbert, who has been hosting The Late Show since 2015, announced the news:

“I want to let you know something that I found out just last night. Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending The Late Show in May [2026].”

Stephen Colbert, whose announcement received boos from the crowd, further revealed that CBS is retiring The Late Show altogether. The show has been broadcasting since 1993, with David Letterman hosting it for its first 22 seasons. In May 2026, the franchise will enter its 33rd season, and 11th with Colbert as host. He added,

“I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners. I'm so grateful to the Tiffany Network for giving me this chair and this beautiful theater to call home. And of course, I'm grateful to you, the audience, who have joined us [massive applause] every night in here, out there, all around the world, Mr. and Mrs. America, and all the ships at sea. I'm grateful to share the stage with this band, these artists over here every night. And I am extraordinarily, deeply grateful to the 200 people who work here.”

The host shared his disappointment regarding the end of The Late Show and wished “somebody else was getting” his job. However, before Stephen Colbert started hosting CBS’s show in 2015, he was the anchor of The Colbert Report. The news satire TV program, which aired on Comedy Central, was cancelled after December 2014 because the host was announced as David Letterman's replacement on The Late Show.

Although Stephen Colbert faced a cancellation campaign earlier in 2014, it didn’t impact The Colbert Report’s conclusion. The controversy began due to an insensitive tweet in March of that year.

Stephen Colbert faced online backlash, with the hashtag “#CancelColbert” trending in 2014

In March 2014, The Colbert Report’s Twitter handle posted a racially insensitive tweet in an attempt to satirize the “Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation.” It read (via The Hollywood Reporter),

“I am willing to show #Asian community I care by introducing the Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever.”

A cancellation campaign soon began against the show and its host, with 23-year-old activist Suey Park at its forefront, according to The New Yorker. She started the online trend by using #CancelColbert in a tweet that read,

“The Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals has decided to call for #CancelColbert. Trend it.”

Stephen Colbert later explained the joke on his show, while also stating that it was Comedy Central’s promotional account that had posted the tweet, not him. He asserted that he was not trying to throw anyone under the bus and added,

“But, when I saw the tweet with no context, I understood how people were offended.”

He further asked anyone attacking the internet activist who started the campaign to stop and acknowledged that she was “just speaking her mind.” He continued,

“I’m not a racist. I don’t even see race, not even my own. People tell me I’m white and I believe them because I just devoted six minutes to explain how I’m not a racist. And that is about the whitest thing you can do.”

The controversy eventually died down, and CBS announced Colbert as the successor to Letterman, who was retiring from The Late Show. On being the next host, Stephen said (via CBS),

“Simply being a guest on David Letterman's show has been a highlight of my career. I never dreamed that I would follow in his footsteps, though everyone in late night follows Dave's lead. I'm thrilled and grateful that CBS chose me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go grind a gap in my front teeth.”

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Eventually, Stephen Colbert will also leave The Late Show in May 2026, with the franchise coming to a culmination. The announcement came three days after the host called out Paramount (CBS’s parent company) for its settlement with President Donald Trump.

Senator Adam Schiff, who was the guest on the July 17 episode, also called out the network on X and asked it to reveal whether the show was being cancelled for “political reasons.”

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