Jimmy Fallon slams CBS for canning Stephen – Business News
“Tonight Show” star Jimmy Fallon quipped he would be the subsequent late-night host to get canned as he blasted CBS for pulling the plug on Stephen Colbert.
“I am your host. Well, at least for tonight,” Fallon mentioned during Monday’s monologue.
Fallon, who made a cameo look on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Monday in a show of help for his longtime rival, additionally took purpose at CBS and its mum or dad company Paramount Global.
“Everybody is talking about CBS’ decision to end ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’,” Fallon mentioned, earlier than setting up his subsequent joke by claiming many viewers are “now threatening to boycott the network.”
“CBS could lose millions of viewers, plus tens of hundreds watching on Paramount+.”
Jimmy Fallon, host of NBC’s “Tonight Show,” reacted to CBS’s determination to cancel rival Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show.” NBC
The former “SNL” star additionally quipped: “These are crazy times. This morning my dad called me and said he’s officially a Kimmel guy,” referring to the third member of the late-night fraternity, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel.
Fallon went on to reward Colbert’s contributions to late-night tv whereas taking a shot at President Trump.
“Stephen has done years of incredibly smart and hilarious television, and he’s won 10 Emmys,” Fallon mentioned.
“Trump heard and was like, ‘Big deal, last week I just won a FIFA World Cup trophy.’”
The joke was a reference to Trump’s look alongside members of the Chelsea soccer workforce after it captured the FIFA World Cup championship at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey final week.
“Stephen has done years of incredibly smart and hilarious television, and he’s won 10 Emmys,” Fallon mentioned. Colbert is seen above. CBS
Fallon — whose contract with NBC runs via 2028 — had beforehand launched a written assertion on the cancellation of Colbert’s show, saying: “I’m just as shocked as everyone. Stephen is one of the sharpest, funniest hosts to ever do it. I really thought I’d ride this out with him for years to come.”
His remarks Monday got here on the heels of scathing commentary from Jon Stewart and Colbert himself, each of whom criticized CBS and Paramount for the choice to finish the top-rated late-night show.
While CBS has maintained that the cancellation was “purely a financial decision” unrelated to the show’s efficiency, others have voiced skepticism.
Protesters are seen outdoors the Ed Sullivan Theater in Manhattan on Monday denouncing CBS. REUTERS
Lawmakers, media observers, union leaders and fellow late-night hosts questioned the timing and motivations behind the transfer — significantly in gentle of Paramount Global’s current $16 million settlement with Donald Trump and its pending $8 billion merger with Skydance Media.
Three days earlier than getting axed, Colbert had criticized the Trump settlement on air, calling it a “big fat bribe.”
Critics have accused Paramount and CBS of yielding to political stress from Trump in an attempt to secure favorable regulatory remedy from the Federal Communications Commission, which is reviewing its long-stalled $8 billion merger with Skydance Media.
Jon Stewart of Comedy Central’s “Daily Show” additionally got here to Colbert’s protection. AP
Sen. Elizabeth Warren was amongst those that voiced concern, posting on X: “CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS owner Paramount for its $16 M settlement with Trump… America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.”
Skydance CEO David Ellison — whose company is in search of to merge with Paramount — just lately met with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and promised that the mixed media entity would replicate “the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers.”
The assembly has solely fueled hypothesis that Colbert’s ouster was meant to neutralize a high-profile Trump critic forward of the FCC’s ruling.
CBS has not publicly responded to Fallon’s feedback. Paramount Global additionally has not issued a assertion in response to Stewart or Colbert’s criticisms.
Colbert took over internet hosting duties of the “Late Show” from David Letterman in 2015
