David Letterman On Colbert’s Firing: ‘This Is Pure Cowardice’

One week after Stephen Colbert announced CBS would be canceling his Late Show, the late-night program’s original host, David Letterman, has weighed in.

Letterman, who began Late Show in 1993 upon his move from NBC to CBS, shared his thoughts on his official YouTube channel Friday, speaking with longtime colleagues Barbara Gaines and Mary Barclay.

Colbert took the Late Show reins from Letterman in 2015, continuing to host the show from New York’s historic Ed Sullivan Theater. He broke the news of the show’s cancellation on his July 17 episode. A subsequent statement from CBS said the cancellation was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”

Count Letterman among that statement’s many skeptics: “This is pure cowardice,” he told Gaines and Barclay.

“Here’s what I know: If they were losing this kind of money, you’re telling me losing this kind of money happened yesterday? I bet they were losing this kind of money a month ago. I’ll bet they were losing this kind of money six weeks ago, or they have never been losing money. They did not do the correct thing. They did not handle Stephen Colbert, the face of that network, in the way he deserves to have been handled.”

Letterman, 78, echoed sentiments that Colbert’s removal had to do with appeasing the Trump Administration, as CBS corporate parent Paramount aims to complete a $8 billion merger with Skydance Media. Though he once welcomed President Trump on his show in 2015, Colbert has long been one of his harshest critics on television.

“For Stephen, I love this,” Letterman said. “He’s a martyr…and if you listen carefully, you can hear them unfolding chairs at the Hall of Fame for his induction.”

He had less reverence for Skydance Media founder David Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison–referring to the pair as “The Oracle Twins.”

“Why don’t they just go buy the Dairy Queen or something? Stay out of this business.”

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is set to conclude its 11-year run in May of 2026. It was recently nominated for Outstanding Talk Series at the 77th annual Emmy Awards.