David Letterman & Jay Leno React to Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ Cancellation

Like their past late-night rivalry… it is Dave Letterman in one corner and Jay Leno in the other when it comes to the cancellation of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

This time it’s the politics of late-night comedy as Letterman sounds off on Colbert’s show ending the legacy he started more than 30 years ago.

While CBS claimed the show was being canceled for “financial reasons,” there is widespread speculation it could be tied to recent events at the company.

Paramount, the parent company of CBS, was urging President Donald Trump to approve the sale of CBS to Skydance, a deal that has since gone through.

In the midst of it all, Paramount settled a $16-million lawsuit with Trump over a “60 Minutes” interview.

Dave addressed “The Late Show” cancellation on "The Barbara Gaines Show," a podcast hosted by his former executive producer.

“I think one day, if not today, the people at CBS who have manipulated and handled this are going to be embarrassed, because this is gutless,” he said, adding, “I only wish this could happen to me. This would have been so great for me.”

Letterman also stated, "This is pure cowardice. They did not do the correct thing. They did not handle Stephen Colbert — the face of that network — in the way he deserves to have been handled." 

Imagining a conversation between Skydance and CBS execs, Dave continued, "So they say to the CBS people, ‘Geez, what about that kid, Stephen Colbert? He’s always shooting his mouth off about the administration. We don’t want any trouble from that guy.’ So, the CBS people say, ‘Hey, boys, here’s what I’m going to do. Not only are we going to get rid of that guy, we’re going to get rid of the entire franchise so you don’t have to worry about another guy. It’s gone, buddy.'"

As for talk the chat show was losing money, he said, "Here’s what I know. If they were losing this kind of money, you’re telling me losing this kind of money happened yesterday? I’ll bet they were losing this kind of money a month ago. I’ll bet they were losing this kind of money six weeks ago. Or they have never been losing money."

Leno had a different take on the matter. While speaking with David Trulio for The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, he said, "I like to think that people come to a comedy show to kind of get away from the things, the pressures of life, wherever it might be. And I love political humor, don't get me wrong, but what happens (is) people wind up cozying too much to one side or the other.”

He added, "Why shoot for just half an audience, why not try to get the whole (audience)?" 

In fact, Leno told us in 2019 that during his “Tonight Show” reign, he was an equal opportunity insulter.