Stephen Colbert curses out Donald Trump in savage response after The Late Show gets canceled
The TV host slammed the POTUS in a blunt message
Stephen Colbert has a simple message for Donald Trump, who celebrated the cancellation of The Late Show.
The veteran comedian, actor and TV host didn't mince his words in his monologue on Monday (July 21) night, stating that the 'gloves are off' for the rest of the show as it winds down in the next 10 months.
The top-rated late-night talk show host appeared in his first broadcast since The Late Show announced it would be cancelled, and chose to directly address the POTUS.
In a Truth Social post last week, Trump wrote: "I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.”
The president also pointed fingers at the iconic Jimmy Kimmel, writing that the Jimmy Kimmel Live host was 'next' and has 'even less talent than Colbert.'
Taking aim at the post, Colbert said: "How dare you, sir? Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism?”
Then looking into the 'Eloquence Cam,' he said simply: "Go f*** yourself."
He also jumped to the defense of Kimmel, adding: "Nope, no, no. Absolutely not. Kimmel, I am the martyr. There’s only room for one on this cross. And the view is fantastic from up here. I can see your house!”
His comments come as CBS confirmed it would be axing the show in 2026, alleging 'financial decisions'.
Bosses said ending the show after more than three decades comes down to dwindling ad revenues and high production costs, however, others believe the move has been politically motivated.
Not only does the decision, coincidentally, come at the same time Paramount is planning a $8.4bn merge with Skydance, a production company funded by pro-Trump billionaire Larry Ellison, but sources told The Independent that the cancellation is part and parcel of the 'Trump shakedown'.
They claim it all started when the channel's parent company Paramount settled a $16m lawsuit for its interview with Kamala Harris on 60 Minutes, which Trump claimed was 'election interference'.
Trump also said Kimmel would be next (Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty Images)
Colbert commented on the legal action last week, stating it amounted to a 'big fat bribe', and joked it was his dream to have a sitting president cheer for the end of his career.
"They’re pointing out that last Monday, just two days before my cancellation, I delivered a blistering monologue in which I showed the courage to have a moustache," he said. "I mean, obviously, CBS saw my upper lip and boom, cancelled. Coincidence? Oh, I think not. This is worse than fascism. This is stachism.”
An anonymous leak over the weekend revealed CBS allegedly tried to suggest the show had lost $40 to $50 million last year, reports The Guardian, to which Colbert joked he could account for a $24m loss before adding: "Where would Paramount have possibly spent the other $16m?... Oh yeah.”
The star also said since the network was 'killing off' the show, while he is still standing, he vowed to speak 'unvarnished truth to power.'
Colbert's fellow hosts also jumped to his defense, with Jon Stewart denouncing Paramount for trying to 'censor and control' the team.
On The Daily Show, Stewart said: "The fact that CBS didn’t try to save their No 1 rated late-night franchise that’s been on the air for over three decades is part of what’s making everybody wonder, 'Was this purely financial, or maybe the path of least resistance for your $8bn merger?'”
"If you believe – as corporations or as networks – that you can make yourselves so innocuous that you can serve a gruel so flavourless that you will never again be on the boy king’s radar … Why would anyone watch you? And you are f***ing wrong.”
He then led the audience to break out into a chat of 'go f*** yourselves' aimed at corporations who toe the Trump line.
Dad with deadly brain cancer that kills in a year is cancer free after taking new drug
A breakthrough drug is fighting brain cancer head-on.
Glioblastoma is widely considered the deadliest form of brain cancer, killing over 10,000 Americans each year. There is no cure for the highly aggressive disease — many patients survive just nine months after diagnosis.
Ben Trotman was diagnosed with glioblastoma in October 2022 at 40.
Treatment focuses on managing symptoms and extending life via surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible and radiation therapy and chemotherapy to destroy cancer cells.
Now, researchers from University College London Hospitals are recruiting glioblastoma patients for a trial of the immunotherapy drug ipilimumab. Sold under the brand name Yervoy, the monoclonal antibody stimulates the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells.
Oncologists are optimistic since a UK father shows no signs of having a tumor after he took ipilimumab before his glioblastoma treatment.
Ben Trotman was diagnosed with glioblastoma in October 2022 at 40.
“The crucial element of this trial is that patients will have their immune system boosted by the drug before they have any other treatment, when they are fit and well enough to tolerate the immunotherapy,” said Dr. Paul Mulholland, the consultant medical oncologist leading the trial.
“We saw with Ben, the one patient recruited to the immunotherapy study, NeAT-GLIO, that he has had clear scans since having the treatment and the tumor hasn’t returned more than two and a half years later.”
Glioblastoma is widely considered the deadliest form of brain cancer, killing over 10,000 Americans each year.
Trotman met with Mulholland, who enrolled him in a clinical trial for ipilimumab. He was the first patient in the world — and the only person in the trial — to take the drug before glioblastoma treatment.
“Getting this diagnosis was the most traumatic experience,” said Trotman’s wife, Emily.
“We were grappling with the fact that Ben had gone from being apparently perfectly healthy to having months to live.”
After taking the drug, Ben underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
Two years and eight months later, his scans are clear.
“It is very unusual to have a clear scan with glioblastoma, especially when he didn’t have the follow-up surgery that had been planned to remove all of the tumor that was initially visible on scans,” Mulholland said.
Ben and Emily Trotman wed in 2023, after he began his immunotherapy treatment.
“We hope that the immunotherapy and follow-up treatment Ben has had will hold his tumor at bay,” he added, “and it has so far, which we are delighted to see.”
In January 2023, months after his diagnosis, Ben married Emily. The couple welcomed a daughter, Mabel, earlier this year.
They enjoy taking her for walks along with their rescue dog, Jerry.
“We are trying to live as normal a life as possible,” Emily said.
“We are in a unique position of which there is no precedent and which comes with a great deal of uncertainty,” she continued. “We want to live each day as if it were our last, but we also want to plan for the future, which we hope to have.”
Researchers plan to recruit 16 glioblastoma patients like Ben over 18 months.
After taking ipilimumab, the trial participants will undergo radiotherapy and chemotherapy and perhaps surgery depending on the extent of their disease.
Dr. Paul Mulholland and Dame Siobhain McDonagh, who raised funds for the new clinical trial of ipilimumab.
The trial is being funded by Dame Siobhain McDonagh, a member of the British Parliament, whose sister died of glioblastoma in 2023.
“My beloved sister Margaret was appalled to discover that there had been no advances in brain cancer treatment for decades when she was diagnosed with glioblastoma,” McDonagh said. “Changing this was Margaret’s final campaign and one that I have continued in her memory.”
Treatment will take place at the NIHR UCLH’s Clinical Research Facility at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.
“I am delighted that this new trial, with the same immunotherapy drug I received, is going ahead and others will have the opportunity to take part,” Ben said. “It will give people newly diagnosed with glioblastoma some hope.”
