Former host David Letterman says he doesn't believe the network's insistence that it was "purely" a financial decision. "They're lying," he told the New York Times. "They're lying weasels."

David Letterman blasted CBS as “lying weasels” over the cancellation of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” disputing the network’s claim that axing it was purely financial.

Our attachment to an institution may seem counterintuitive, especially with comedy, a rebellious art form. But with Stephen Colbert’s program, there was a lot at stake.

Late-night legend David Letterman is once again coming to the defense of Stephen Colbert, whose “Late Show” comes to a close later this month after CBS announced in July 2025 that the historic

David Letterman, the original host who built the Ed Sullivan Theater into a temple of topical comedy, has broken his silence this summer on CBS’s decision to end The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in May 2026.

For an essay on the end of “The Late Show” on CBS, I spoke to its first host, David Letterman, who was cleareyed about the program’s cancellation. Here are edited excerpts from our conversation: What was your first thought when you found out “The Late Show,” which you helped create and where you served as the first host, was canceled?

David Letterman didn't hold back when it came to tearing down the "lying weasels" at CBS for their firing of Stephen Colbert and the cancellation of "The Late Show" this week. In a scathing interview with The New York Times out Tuesday,