CBS Claims It Killed the Late Show for Losing Money, Then It Won 7 Emmys on the Way Out the Door
· Thought Catalog
Updated 15 seconds ago, September 16, 2026
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is going out the door with seven Emmys — an unmistakable rebuttal to the network that canceled it and blamed it on finances.
Five of those trophies came at Creative Arts the weekend before, for Writing, Directing, Technical Direction and Camerawork, Lighting Design, and Picture Editing. Outstanding Variety Series came Monday night at the main telecast. The digital companion, “Colbert Before Air,” took Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series for a seventh.
The Colbert-era “Late Show” had piled up more than 40 nominations across 11 years without a single win. Every one of these arrived after CBS announced in July 2025 that it was pulling the plug, calling it “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.” Reports put the show’s annual losses around $40 million.
The timing did little to quiet the questions. Colbert had been one of Trump’s most persistent late-night critics, and the cancellation came days after he called Paramount’s $16 million settlement of Trump’s “60 Minutes” lawsuit a “big fat bribe.” Trump celebrated the news on Truth Social. Colbert’s show, for its part, was still the most-watched program in late night.
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The final season set a record with nine nominations for the Colbert era, and Variety Series beat “The Daily Show,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” and “Saturday Night Live.”
Accepting that award, Colbert spoke for the more than 200 people who worked on the show and pitched his out-of-work staff directly: they were “all tech avail. Hire them; they will make your show better, and they will make your day easier.” He thanked his wife Evelyn McGee-Colbert and closed, “We’ll catch y’all on the flip.” He did not mention Trump.
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