After CBS Cancels Stephen Colbert’s Show, Could More of Paramount’s Stable of Anti-Trump TV Stars Get the Ax?

After the shocking decision by CBS to fire a virulently anti-Trump comedian, Stephen Colbert, many fans of the comedian, along with media reporters, are wondering if another shoe will drop as the likely new owner of CBS, David Ellison of Skydance Media, signals he intends to bring more balance — and less bias — to CBS’s programming.Mr. Ellison — son of the world’s second-richest man, Larry Ellison — committed, according to a letter detailing a meeting he had with the Federal Communications Commission, to “unbiased journalism” at CBS. That, along with a sentence that stated Skydance will “embrace” diverse viewpoints, seems to signal that the changes are only beginning for Paramount and its other properties, including CBS. CBS says it made its decision to fire Mr. Colbert solely based upon financial decisions, an assertion that has been challenged by fans of the late-night host, who have noted that he’s one of the most famous faces on CBS, or indeed across Paramount Global. However, a veteran media reporter, Matthew Belloni, reported that “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” was losing $40 million a year. Furthermore, despite winning in the Nielsen ratings versus ABC’s and NBC’s late-night shows, Mr. Colbert’s program brought in significantly less ad revenue than his competitors. He had the weakest online presence and did not translate well. Mr. Colbert is expected to remain on the air at CBS until May, which has raised questions about whether the host — who called Paramount’s settlement a “big fat bribe” and has spent the last decade attacking and demeaning Mr. Trump — will ramp up his criticism of the president and his corporate bosses. While firing Mr. Colbert may appear to give him leverage to take the gloves off for the next 10 months until his show ends, he was strikingly conciliatory in his comments announcing his cancellation on last Thursday’s show. “The Late Show” is pre-taped in the afternoon, and CBS can also choose to air reruns. At any time, it could choose to pay out Mr. Colbert’s contract, stop making new episodes of the show, and lay off Mr. Colbert’s 200-person staff, 10 months early. There are incentives for Mr. Colbert to exit with grace.Mr. Colbert is also expected to be fielding multiple offers from other media outlets, and unruly behavior on his way out of CBS’s door could jeopardize those offers. A celebrity news columnist who has covered the TV industry for 15 years, Rob Shuter, wrote in his Substack newsletter that CBS executives warned Mr. Colbert that his show could be taken off the air with no notice if he makes a joke or comment that they felt went too far. “They dragged him into a meeting,” Mr. Schuter quoted an unnamed source as saying. “They told him: ‘You pull another stunt like that, and we cancel the show immediately. No farewell, no wrap-up, just done.’”Mr. Schuter said that his segments are now being screened by network executives for pre-approval to ensure he does not step out of line. While Mr. Colbert and his staff are “walking on eggshells,” according to Mr. Shuter, media reporters are asking what other staffing changes might be coming once Skydance executives take over. The attention has now shifted to another fiercely anti-Trump comedian who works at Paramount-controlled Comedy Central, Jon Stewart, whose contract is set to expire in December.During an episode of his “Weekly Show” podcast, published shortly before the cancellation of “The Late Show,” Mr. Stewart, who has also been a harsh critic of Mr. Trump and the Paramount settlement, responded to a fan who asked if he believed Skydance would get rid of “The Daily Show.”“Boy, that’s a good question,” Mr. Stewart said. “You know, unfortunately, we haven’t heard anything from them.”He added that he has been “kicked out of s—tier establishments than that,” and that he “honestly” does not know about his future. Mr. Ellison’s commitment to “unbiased” journalism at CBS News could also lead to the firing of some of its marquee talent who have been outspoken about the Skydance deal or critical of Mr. Trump, such as a “60 Minutes” correspondent, Scott Pelley. After the forced ouster of the then-executive producer of “60 Minutes,” Bill Owens, Mr. Pelley delivered an on-air rebuke of Paramount and linked Mr. Owens’s departure to the attempt to win the FCC’s approval of the Skydance deal. Mr. Pelley was behind a report about the Trump administration’s deals with major law firms that advised or employed critics of the president. The segment featured commentary by a prominent Trump opponent, attorney Marc Elias, who said that Mr. Trump is “trying to intimidate [law firms] the way in which a mob boss intimidates people in the neighborhood that he is seeking to either exact protection money from or engage in other nefarious conduct.”“I mean, the fact is that these law firms are being told, ‘If you don’t play ball with us, maybe somethin’ really bad will happen to you,’” he said. Mr. Elias was the Clinton operative who engaged the Fusion GPS research firm that commissioned the notorious (and now discredited) “Steele Dossier” that accused Mr. Trump’s campaign of colluding with Russia to undermine Secretary Clinton. Mr. Trump issued executive orders denouncing Mr. Elias and also sanctioning his former law firm, Perkins Coie, which has a long history of partisan activities that favor Democrats. The “60 Minutes” segment did not mention Mr. Elias’s role with Fusion GPS or his strategic role in undermining the 2016 Trump campaign.That story and comment about Mr. Trump acting like a “mob boss” prompted one of the president’s attorneys to threaten to sue CBS News for defamation. During a rousing commencement address at Wake Forest University, Mr. Pelley criticized Mr. Trump’s lawsuit against CBS, which he said was done over “nothing.”Another personality who might wind up under Skydance’s microscope is Margaret Brennan, who hosts CBS News’s “Face the Nation.” During the 2024 vice presidential debate, Vice President Vance called her out for “fact-checking” him despite CBS News promising not to do so during pre-debate negotiations.Ms. Brennan came under fire again more recently as she claimed in February that the Nazis “weaponized” free speech to carry out the Holocaust, as she attacked Mr. Vance for his criticism of European officials’ efforts to curb free speech. The comment led several social media users to call for her to be fired. Ms. Brennan has tussled with other high-profile Republican officials, such as the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, over tariffs. Another who might have her contract scrutinized is Lesley Stahl. In 2020, Ms. Stahl, a star of “60 Minutes,” was widely criticized after she shut down Mr. Trump in an interview for talking about a laptop containing salacious materials that belonged to Hunter Biden. At the time, she said, “This is ’60 Minutes’ and we can’t put on things that we can’t verify.” CBS News later confirmed that the laptop and its contents belonged to Mr. Biden. Ms. Stahl also stated she is “angry” with the non-executive chairwoman of Paramount, Shari Redstone, for her efforts to settle Mr. Trump’s lawsuit. Perhaps even more troubling for Ms. Stahl’s future is that Mr. Ellison is reportedly in talks to hire the pro-Israel co-founder of the Free Press, Bari Weiss, to serve as an “ideological guide” for the network, which has also been accused of an anti-Israel bias. Ms. Stahl was harshly criticized after she interviewed a freed Israeli-American hostage, Keith Siegel, and asked if Hamas actually intended to starve him while he was in captivity. As CBS employees wait to see what the future holds, it remains to be seen whether any of the journalists who fumed about the idea of settling with Mr. Trump will resign in protest or stay at the network hoping they can resist attempts to implement change and wait out their new bosses.

After CBS Cancels Stephen Colbert’s Show, Could More of Paramount’s Stable of Anti-Trump TV Stars Get the Ax?

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