Stephen Colbert reacts to Paramount's Warner Bros. bid having $24B from Saudi funds, claims "Young Mohammed bin Sheldon" will be CBS' new hit comedy

Stephen Colbert has endeared himself to audiences on late night television since the end of his stint on The Daily Show in 2005. CBS announced on July 17, 2025 that it had canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, citing rising costs and declining returns.

In the most recent news about the comedian and television host, Stephen Colbert used his monologue on the December 10 episode of his show to share an interesting take with his audience when he took the opportunity to make a comment about his current parent company, Paramount.

On the one hand, Paramount owns CBS and was responsible for Colbert’s cancellation. On the other, Paramount had mounted a bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal that had previously involved Netflix.

“Wow. I gotta say, if my company’s got that kind of green, I’m sure they can afford to un-cancel one of their best shows. CBS, you heard the people — bring back The Equalizer.”

Stephen Colbert also called out Paramount for questionable practices when he shed light on the fact that $24 billion of their total bid were from wealth funds directly controlled by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi as per The Hollywood Reporter.

“And when the dictator of Saudi Arabia gives you billions of dollars, I’m sure there’s no catch. In a totally unrelated story, I’m looking forward to next season’s new CBS hit comedy, Young Mohammed bin Sheldon.”

Stephen Colbert interviews Taylor Swift

In the same December 10 episode, Stephen Colbert also had the fortune of having a sit-down interview with pop icon Taylor Swift. During their conversation, the 'Opalite' singer gushed about her husband-to-be labelling him as one of her “favorite” people. Interestingly, singer Stevie Nicks and producer Max Martin also made it to that list.

Stephen Colbert then took the opportunity to congratulate Taylor on two monumental achievements in 2025; getting back the masters of her music catalogue and getting engaged.

“That’s a good year! Those two things that you mentioned, right, like getting engaged to the love of my life, getting all my music back — those are two things that just could have never happened.”

Swift would add,

“It wasn’t like ‘Oh, it’s just a matter time.’ Like, both of those things could have just never arrived in my life and I’m so grateful for both those things happening and my fans are why I was able to get my music back.”

Stephen Colbert looks to go out on top, as he continues to deliver quality programming to his audience until his show’s run ultimately comes to an end.

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