David Letterman isn’t biting his tongue, calling the owners of CBS “lying weasels” after they canceled The Late Show With Stephen Colbert due to financial reasons.
The former Late Show host recently sat down with The New York Times, where he once again slammed the network, alleging that the late night talk show was pulled for other reasons.
“He was dumped because the people selling the network to Skydance said, ‘Oh no, there’s not going to be any trouble with that guy. We’re going to take care of the show. We’re just going to throw that into the deal. When will the ink on the check dry,’” Letterman said.
“I’m just going to go on record as saying: They’re lying. Let me just add one other thing, Jason. They’re lying weasels,” he added, referencing NYT writer Jason Zinoman.
Last year, when CBS announced The Late Show would be coming to an end this May, the network said it was “purely a financial decision” made in a declining linear TV landscape. When the NYT circled back with CBS after Letterman’s latest comments, the spokesperson for the network reiterated, “Unequivocally a financial decision.”
The late night legend also told the newspaper about the network that he used to call home, “They don’t share the books with me. All of television seems to have been nicked by digital communication and streaming platforms and on and on. TV may be not the money machine it once was. On the other hand, what about the humanity for Stephen and the humanity of people who love him and the humanity for people who still enjoyed that 11:30 respite?”
Letterman hosted The Late Show for more than two decades, from 1993 to 2015, before Colbert took over.
He previously called the axing of The Late Show “pure cowardice,” and said that CBS “did not handle Stephen Colbert, the face of that network, in the way he deserves.”
“I don’t think it was money,” Letterman added at the time. “I think it was all to make sure [Skydance head David Ellison, who became the CEO of Paramount when the two companies merged last year] were solid spending dad’s money.”
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will air its final episode on May 21, 2026. Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen will then take over the time slot.
