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David Letterman Absolutely Destroyed CBS With Six Savage Words About Stephen Colbert's Cancellation

David Letterman hosted The Late Show for over 20 years before Stephen Colbert took over in 2015.

Ben Blanchet
by Ben Blanchet

HuffPost Writer

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David Letterman slammed CBS using a not-so-subtle jab on his YouTube channel on Monday after the network announced that it would cancel The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, a franchise he began over 30 years ago.

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“You can’t spell CBS without BS,” wrote Letterman in the caption of a 20-minute video compilation of moments where he criticized the network during his Late Show run.

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The upload to Letterman’s channel comes less than a week after CBS revealed that it would end The Late Show — which he hosted from 1993 until his 2015 retirement — in May 2026, claiming the move was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”

A person in a suit sits pensively at a desk on a talk show set with a cityscape backdrop
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While the program reportedly faced financial challenges in recent years, critics have accused CBS of making a politically motivated decision as Colbert — a frequent critic of Donald Trump — recently mocked the network’s parent company over a $16 million settlement with the president.

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The timing of the settlement raised questions as Paramount Global has sought to win over the Federal Communications Commission’s chair, a Project 2025 contributor who has embraced Trump, on a multibillion-dollar deal to merge with Skydance Media.

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Letterman, a critic of Trump who has expressed regret over his interviews with the then-real estate developer during his decades at The Late Show, joins a number of other late-night figures who have weighed in on the shock CBS decision.

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Jimmy Kimmel, in an Instagram Stories update while on vacation from his ABC show last week, showed love to Colbert before dropping a blistering jab directed at his network.

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“F**k you and all your Sheldons CBS,” he wrote.

Stephen Colbert sits at a desk on his show with a message from Jimmy Kimmel expressing affection and a humorous jab at CBS
@jimmykimmel/Instagram / Via Instagram: @jimmykimmel

Last Week Tonight host John Oliver and NBC late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers have all expressed sadness over the news in recent days, as well.

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Oliver, Fallon, Meyers, Daily Show host Jon Stewart, Watch What Happens Live! host Andy Cohen, and other celebs all showed support for Colbert in an appearance on Monday’s episode of The Late Show.

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Check out Letterman’s video, titled "CBS: The Tiffany Network," here:

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CBS / Via youtube.com

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

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