Why does Samantha Bee believe axing Colbert’s Late Show was the right decision? Details explored

Samantha Bee has been a part of the late-night scene since the early 2000s. Currently, the talk show industry is buzzing with news that marks the end of an era for one long-time host, Stephen Colbert.

CBS has decided to pull the plug on Stephen Colbert's Late Show, which is scheduled to wrap up by May 2026. While fans, followers, and colleagues are expressing their disagreement with the decision to cancel the show, Samantha Bee said that the decision was a "no-brainer".

She began as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and later on, moved to start her own show called Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. However, Samatha's response to the cancellation of Stephen Colbert's show was not emotional, but she had reasons to back it up.

She explained her reasons for believing it is the right call on the Breaking Bread with Tom Papa podcast. She said that there are two reasons why CBS is ending the show: one is to "curry favor with the President," and the second reason is that it is a "financial decision". She elaborated:

"I think both things are true... It definitely was hemorrhaging money. These legacy shows are hemorrhaging money with no real end to that…in sight, people are just not tuning in. People are literally on their phones all the time for one thing, so they actually don't necessarily need a recap of the day's events. They're very well-versed in what has happened."

Samantha Bee talks more about CBS ending Stephen Colbert's Late Show

As a veteran in the talk show industry, she said that she understood what it is like to push the political boundaries while on the show. She also added that the public is losing interest in late-night shows, which is another problem for the field she is in.

According to her, the fact that they need to be careful about "political backlash" is the reason why it is a "no-brainer" for CBS to call it quits.

She added:

"It's so much easier for them to cut it loose with this merger coming down the pike... It makes the decision such a no-brainer, and probably the most agonizing decisions they were having were about how do we float this? How do we not get a lot of blowback? I'm sure they knew it was happening a long time ago."

But the Full Frontal with Samantha Bee has no bad blood with Stephen Colbert. She agreed that the cancellation of his show is "awful," she clarified:

"I love Stephen... I consider him to be a friend. I think he's amazing. I'm shocked, not surprised.”

While Samantha Bee was not too surprised when she heard that Stephen Colbert's Late Show was being canceled, she understood why the network did it. She explained how CBS is trying to win the President's favor, as well as the financial strains, which is why the company had to make a tough choice.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback