That was quick.
The Legacy Media circled the wagons to inform us “The Late Present’s” cancellation was, in no explicit order:
- The top of DemocracyTM
- The top of Free Speech
- The top of Talking Fact to Energy
- Proof of President Trump’s authoritarian impulses
By no means thoughts that retailers stored speaking to of us behind the scenes at CBS and couldn’t discover a single reality to again the latter up.
Now? The identical platforms are sharing tales that assist clarify why Late-Night time TV is on its final legs.
Think about Jay Leno.
Jay Leno completely nails it
In a current interview with Fox Information, the late evening legend known as out CBS for axing The Late Present with Stephen Colbert, and extra importantly, he took goal at what comedy has now grow to be.
“I don’t perceive why you’ll alienate one explicit… pic.twitter.com/SPRn4DtWwN
— Philip Couper (@P_Couper) July 28, 2025
The late-night champion retired in 2014 after greater than 20 years atop the scores charts. Leno leans to the Left off-screen, however he by no means let that bleed into his monologues.
He hit either side within the grand Johnny Carson custom.
Leno not too long ago criticized the present late-night panorama for being relentlessly one-sided. (“Gutfeld!” stays the top-rated exception)
“…I wish to suppose that individuals come to a comedy present to sort of get away from the issues, , the pressures of life, no matter it is likely to be … And I really like political humor, don’t get me flawed, however it’s simply what occurs when folks wind up cozying an excessive amount of to 1 aspect or the opposite.
“I don’t suppose anyone needs to listen to a lecture.”
He acknowledged the apparent, the last word Canine Bites Man retort. But the feedback rapidly went viral in Legacy Media retailers.
Leisure Weekly. Selection. The Hollywood Reporter. Deadline. The Each day Beast. CNN. USA In the present day. The Hill. Rolling Stone. The Wrap.
These websites routinely ignore tales that don’t align with their progressive worldview.
All. The. Time.
So why give wall-to-wall protection of Leno stating the apparent?
Subsequent up? Piers Morgan. The British pundit is difficult to pin down, ideologically talking. He nonetheless mocked Colbert and the late-night lineup in toto, for being aggressively one-sided.
“Most of America’s largest late-night hosts have grow to be nothing greater than hyper-partisan activist hacks for the Democrats — a celebration that’s hardly ever been extra unpopular. No marvel Colbert acquired canned. Extra will observe.”
Sound acquainted?
But, once more, some Legacy Media retailers lined as much as share Morgan’s ideas. Deadline. Selection. The Impartial. Yahoo.
In the meantime, “CBS Information Sunday Morning” simply aired a loving tribute to Carson. The vignette highlighted the late-night legend’s means to make us chortle with out turning viewers towards one another.
That’s the Colbert mannequin. Carson did it in another way, drawing tens of millions of viewers every evening.
“That was a part of the magic of Carson: neighborhood,” stated Carson biographer Mike Thomas.
Why the pivot? Blame the 5 levels of grief: Denial, anger, bargaining, despair and, now, acceptance. Plus, legacy media retailers know the typical shopper is aware of Colbert and co. are deeply divisive, indignant and one-sided.
(Even when they hardly ever label Colbert as “progressive” or “liberal”)
They’ve tried to cover these details within the days following “The Late Present’s” cancellation. It failed, thanks partially to new media platforms sharing the precise fact.
That embarrassing Colbert protest might have proven reporters we’ve already moved on from the cancellation, even when they haven’t.
NYC’s ‘We’re With Colbert’ rally for late-night host is a bust with simply 20 protesters https://t.co/FyYrTL3Nb8 pic.twitter.com/5QMI8GvhTd
— New York Publish (@nypost) July 27, 2025
Now, they’re permitting the reality to leak out. Higher late than by no means.