Doomed Stephen Colbert wheels out Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren to rant at CBS News bosses after his money-hemorrhaging show was canned

Stephen Colbert welcomed Elizabeth Warren to his show Thursday – and the Massachusetts senator quickly used the spot to slam the new boss of CBS’s parent company Paramount. 

Within seconds of being seated, hardline Democrat Warren interrupted Colbert midsentence to embark on the rant.

She called out Paramount CEO David Ellison by name, months after questioning whether CBS’s decision to cancel ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ was a politically motivated one. 

‘We don’t think one man or one corporation named David Ellison should be able to buy up all the shows and buy up all the sports and buy up all the news and decide who watches what and who says what,’ she said this time around.

‘And I’m going to stay in that fight. So, we’re there,’ 

The audience New York City’s Ed Sullivan Theater applauded in response, after Paramount entered a bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery – CNN’s parent company – this week. 

Colbert, meanwhile, grimaced. His response was riddled with sarcasm.

‘I’ve never met Mr. Ellison, and I’m sure he’s a fine fella,’ he said, turning to the camera as he spoke.

‘You’re going to get me sued,’ the host quickly told Warren, speaking in a stage whisper. 

The two proceeded to turn to another topic, after Paramount faced a torrent of criticism from progressives for paying Donald Trump $16million to settle a lawsuit earlier this year.

Warren led such calls, as did Colbert. The suit surrounded a September 2024 60 Minutes segment the conservative claimed was ‘deceptively edited’

In July, days before CBS announced Colbert would tape his last episode May, Warren took to social media to accuse Trump of ‘what looks like corruption in plain sight’.

‘Paramount/CBS: $16 MILLION; Meta: $22 MILLION; Disney/ABC: $15 MILLION; X: $10 MILLION,’ she wrote in a post to X, rattling off a list of companies the conservative has received settlements from.

Two days prior, on his first day back from summer break Colbert ranted at his  Paramount bosses for forking over the sum, which he called a ‘big fat bribe.’

‘This all comes as Paramount’s owners are trying to get the Trump administration to approve the sale of our network to a new owner, Skydance,’ he said at the time.

‘As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I’m offended,’ 

That same month, the merger between Ellison’s corporation Skydance and Paramount was solidified after a year in limbo.

The same week Colbert spoke out against Paramount, he learned his show was being canned.

‘Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending The Late Show in May,’ he told his audience at the time.  

A report from Puck journalist Matthew Belloni the following day – as well as a statement from Paramount – blamed the move on a lack of finances.

Sources said the show was losing $40 million a year, with Colbert earning around $15 million a year to host it. 

The same day as the Puck report, Warren suggested he move was linked to Paramount’s then-soon-to-be-inked merger with Skydance in a post to social media. 

‘CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that looks like bribery.

‘America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.’

The merger was swiftly approved, and Ellison was minted as Paramount’s new chief.

He has since pledged to shed any prior political connotations that may be tied to the company.

Ellison is the son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, a well-known GOP donor and the fourth-richest man alive, according to Forbes.

Colbert’s late night stablemates Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers have faced criticism for turning off viewers with late night rants about politics.

Many have called for a return to gentler chat involving celebrities that made pioneering late night host Johnny Carson an icon of broadcasting.