Next year will be our last season, the network [CBS] will be ending The Late Show in May.”

As the audience booed, he continued: “I share your feelings. It’s not just the end of our show but it’s the end of The Late Show on CBS. I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away. I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners … And I’m grateful to the audience, you, who have joined us every night, in here, out there, and all around the world.”

CBS executives released a statement addressing their decision that same day, revealing a “financial” choice led to the cancellation and it was not “related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”

Colbert’s peers Since then, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and other late-night shows have defended Colbert:

Jimmy Kimmel