Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry says he “wouldn’t worry” about the NBA’s integrity despite a FBI investigation into illegal sports betting.
Miami Heat player Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups are among dozens arrested as part of a sweeping investigation that also includes allegedly rigged, mafia-linked poker games.
Rozier, 31, is among six people arrested over alleged betting irregularities. They include NBA players being accused of faking injuries to influence gambling markets.
There is greater concern about the impact of gambling on the integrity of American sports, with most US states having legalised sports betting since the US Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018.
“I think on the whole, everybody’s very mindful of what to do, what not to do, and understanding the landscape of sports right now in general,” said Curry, who has twice been the NBA’s Most Valuable Player.
“And that’s not just a NBA thing, this is new territory for everybody. So I think, on the whole, we all are very responsible.
“The integrity of the game is fine, and then obviously we let the situation play out, whatever happens. But I wouldn’t worry about that too much.”
Warriors team-mate Draymond Green, who has won four NBA championships with Curry, added: “I was shocked. It’s a tough moment for the individuals involved, a tough moment for the league.
“But I’m not going to sit here and be like, ‘man, you all partner with a gambling company, you open a can of worms’. That can of worms can be open with partnering with gambling companies or not.
“Partnering with a gambling company is not going to make gambling more accessible to us. The accessibility is what it is.”
Two-time Paralympic champion Stephen Bate secured a golden finish to his 12-year career by winning the men’s tandem individual pursuit title at the Para-cycling Track World Championships in Rio de Janeiro.
Bate and pilot Christopher Latham achieved victory by catching Italian rivals Lorenzo Bernard and pilot Paolo Toto in an impressive display.
It ensured Bate ended his career as a five-time world champion across road and track events, and a five-time Paralympic medallist.
It was in Rio nine years ago where he and then-pilot Adam Duggleby achieved a golden Paralympic double in the individual pursuit and road time trial events.
Partnered by Latham on his return to the Brazilian capital, with whom he won individual pursuit silver at his final Paralympic Games in Paris last summer, Bate signed off in style on another hugely successful day for the British team.
That was one of three gold medals won by the British team on Saturday, as 21-year-old Archie Atkinson regained the men’s C4 10km scratch race title.
Elizabeth Jordan and pilot Dannielle Khan also triumphed, retaining their women’s B 1km time trial title.
Finlay Graham made it three medals in as many days as he clinched silver in the men’s C3 elimination race.
There was also silver for Kadeena Cox in the women’s C4 Sprint Race.
Those successes took GB’s tally to seven golds, five silver and five bronze medals overall.
High school basketball in Southern California will be without one of its finest coaches this season.
Stephen Singleton, who guided Eastvale Roosevelt to state and Southern Section Open Division championships last season, announced his retirement from coaching on Thursday after 10 years at Roosevelt and 25 years in the business. He will continue as a teacher.
Singleton intends to spend more time coaching his young son.
He also won a state Division I title in 2017 with Roosevelt and won a state Division II title coaching briefly at Dominguez in Compton in 2001.
With official basketball practice starting soon, Roosevelt intends to open the position to all candidates, but there’s two assistants who are teachers at the school that could possibly ease the transition if they are interested in the head coaching position.
Joshua Allen, the dancer who took home the crown on the fourth season of “So You Think You Can Dance,” has died after he was struck by a train in Fort Worth.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s database confirmed that Allen died early Tuesday morning at a local hospital. His manner of death and cause of death are pending, the database says. Allen was 36.
Police responded Tuesday around 1 a.m. to railroad tracks near the intersection of Millbrook Lane and Nuffield Lane, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. Officers found Allen, who had been struck by a train, and took him to a nearby hospital where he died, police told the outlet. Police did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment Wednesday.
Christina Price, who represented Allen, also confirmed his death, saying in a statement that “what stood out most about Joshua was his heart.”
“He had a natural gift for movement — no formal training, yet he could watch something once and his body just knew how to do it,” Price added.”Beyond his talent, he gave back, teaching kids in Texas through dance workshops.”
Allen’s family member confirmed the entertainer’s death to TMZ, which first broke the news. The family member did not disclose his cause of death and asked fans for “privacy and prayers.”
The Texas-based dancer auditioned for “So You Think You Can Dance” in 2008, impressing judges with his fluid movements, controlled popping and locking and springy leaps. Throughout the season, he proved his ability to take on a variety of dance styles ranging from contemporary to Bollywood. He remained a strong competitor, eventually besting fellow contestants for the grand prize.
Allen notably bested Stephen “Twitch” Boss, who died by suicide in December 2022. Boss was 40. Allen mourned Boss on Instagram, writing “NO WORDS will ever be enough to explain the LOVE I have for you Stephen.” At the time, he recalled connecting with Boss prior to their auditions and wrote, “This isn’t goodbye more so I’ll see you later.”
Price, who also represented Boss, said his death “weighed heavily on Allen” and that “it’s heartbreaking to now be grieving Joshua as well.”
After his “So You Think You Can Dance” days, Allen’s work included a McDonald’s commercial, a role in the debut season of “American Horror Story” and appearances in “Freak Dance,” “Step Up 3D,” and the 2011 “Footloose” remake, according to IMDb. He was also an instructor for several dance competitions.
Allen faced legal troubles in summer 2016, when he was accused of attacking his girlfriend at a coffee shop. The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office charged him with two felony counts of willfully injuring his girlfriend, one felony assault with a deadly weapon and four misdemeanors related to battery, vandalism and violating a protective order, according to TMZ. Allen was poised to be a mentor on Season 13 of “SYTYCD,” but longtime host Cat Deeley announced his departure from the series on-air amid his domestic violence case.
He pleaded no contest in August 2016 and was sentenced to one year in jail.
NEW YORK — A new report on book bans in U.S. schools finds Stephen King as the author most likely to be censored and the country divided between states actively restricting works and those attempting to limit or eliminate bans.
PEN America’s “Banned in the USA,” released Wednesday, tracks more than 6,800 instances of books being temporarily or permanently pulled for the 2024-2025 school year. The new number is down from more than 10,000 in 2023-24, but still far above the levels of a few years ago, when PEN didn’t even see the need to compile a report.
Some 80% of those bans originated in three states that have enacted or attempted to enact laws calling for removal of books deemed objectionable — Florida, Texas and Tennessee. Meanwhile, PEN found little or no instances of removals in several other states, with Illinois, Maryland and New Jersey among those with laws that limit the authority of school and public libraries to pull books.
“It is increasingly a story of two countries,” says Kasey Meehan, director of PEN’s Freedom to Read program and an author of the report. “And it’s not just a story of red states and blue states. In Florida, not all of the school districts responded to the calls for banning books. You can find differences from county to county.”
King’s books were censored 206 times, according to PEN, with “Carrie” and “The Stand” among the 87 of his works affected. The most banned work of any author was Anthony Burgess’ dystopian classic from the 1960s, “A Clockwork Orange,” for which PEN found 23 removals. Other books and authors facing extensive restrictions included Patricia McCormick’s “Sold,” Judy Blume’s “Forever” and Jennifer Niven’s “Breathless,” and numerous works by Sarah J. Maas and Jodi Picoult.
Reasons often cited for pulling a book include LGBTQ+ themes, depictions of race and passages with violence and sexual violence. An ongoing trend that PEN finds has only intensified: Thousands of books were taken off shelves in anticipation of community, political or legal pressure rather than in response to a direct threat.
“This functions as a form of ‘obeying in advance,’” the report reads, “rooted in fear or simply a desire to avoid topics that might be deemed controversial.”
The PEN report comes amid ongoing censorship efforts not just from states and conservative activists but from the federal government. The Department of Education ended an initiative by the Biden administration to investigate the legality of bans and has called the issue a “hoax.” PEN’s numbers include the Department of Defense’s removal of hundreds of books from K-12 school libraries for military families as part of an overall campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and “un-American” thinking.
In Florida, where more than 2,000 books were banned or restricted, a handful of counties were responsible for many of the King removals: Dozens were pulled last year as a part of a review for whether they were in compliance with state laws.
“His books are often removed from shelves when ‘adult’ titles or books with ‘sex content’ are targeted for removal — these prohibitions overwhelmingly ban LGBTQ+ content and books on race, racism, and people of color — but also affect titles like Stephen King’s books,” Meehan says. “Some districts — in being overly cautious or fearful of punishment — will sweep so wide they end up removing Stephen King from access too.”
PEN’s methodology differs from that of the American Library Assn., which also issues annual reports on bans and challenges. PEN’s numbers are much higher in part because the free expression organization counts any books removed or restricted for any length of time, while the library association only counts permanent removals or restrictions.
Both organizations have acknowledged that because they largely rely on media reports and information that they receive directly, their numbers are far from comprehensive.
The PEN report does not include data from Ohio, Oklahoma, Arkansas and other red states because researchers could not find adequate documentation. Meehan said PEN also doesn’t know the full impact of statewide laws.
Italie writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Kate Payne in Tallahassee, Fla., contributed to this report.
The late night circuit got its version of a unique crossover event Tuesday night as Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert appeared as guests on each other’s shows.
It was a fitting stunt considering both talk show hosts have been at the center of noteworthy professional situations shrouded in political and national significance, and both orbit in the same universe of President Trump’s contempt. The two hosts, who have vocally supported each other through the respective ordeals on their shows, were now able to continue the mutual backing in full force, face-to-face.
In the wake of the fallout of Kimmel’s suspension earlier this month over comments he made related to the death of conservative pundit Charlie Kirk, the recently reinstated host charged ahead with moving his L.A.-based show to Brooklyn for a week as planned, with Colbert among the star-studded list of guests. Colbert was effusive in his support of Kimmel after ABC pre-empted his talk show, criticizing the decision as “blatant censorship.”
Kimmel, meanwhile, appeared on “The Late Show,” alongside pop star Sam Smith. Earlier this year, CBS announced it was canceling “The Late Show” and would end after the season wraps in May 2026 — marking not only the end of Colbert’s run at the helm, but also bringing the late night institution to a close after a 30-year run. The decision, the company said, was due to financial reasons and not — as many have speculated — because of Colbert’s criticism of a deal between the Trump administration and Paramount, the parent company of CBS, the network that airs “The Late Show,” over.a 2024 “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. Kimmel was one of the many who expressed disdain over the decision, even campaigning for Colbert to win an Emmy though Kimmel was on the same ballot. (Colbert ultimately won.)
Ahead of Kimmel’s appearance on “The Late Show,” Colbert hosted another late-night host, Conan O’Brien, who appeared as a guest Monday, opening the conversation with, “Stephen, how’s late night? What’s going on? I’ve been out of it for a little bit — catch me up on what’s happening.”
“I’ll send you the obituary,” Colbert replied.
Here are five standout moments from the night of shared grievances.
Stephen Colbert, left, and Jimmy Kimmel backstage at “The Late Show.”
(Scott Kowalchyk/CBS)
Colbert says he ‘sweat through his shirt’ the day he told his staff ’The Late Show’ was canceled
In his first sit-down interview since the “The Late Show” was canceled, Colbert walked Kimmel through the timeline of his show’s cancellation. He said he received the news from their mutual manager, James Dixon, after the taping of his show on July 16. He got home to his wife, Evie McGee-Colbert, two and a half hours later. As he walked into the apartment, according to Colbert, his wife said, “What happened? You get canceled?”
Dixon knew for a week but had been hesitant to relay the news to Colbert, who was on vacation. Once he learned the show’s fate, Colbert said he was unsure about when he should break the news to his staff, debating whether to wait until after the summer break or in September. His wife, though, said he would tell them the following day.
“We get into the building,” he said, “I go up the elevator, I walk through the offices. By time I get to my offices, I have sweat through my shirt because I didn’t want to know anything my staff didn’t know. And I said, ‘I’m going to tell my staff today,’ but then we couldn’t do a show if I told them because everybody would be bummed out and I would be bummed out.”
He only told executive producer Tom Purcell at first. He got through the whole show. And then he asked the audience and staff to stick around for one more act so he could record the announcement.
“My stage manager goes, ‘Oh no, we’re done, Steve, we’re done.’ And I said, ‘nope, there’s one more act of the show. Please don’t let the audience leave.’ And he goes, ‘No, boss, no. Boss. I got that. I got the thing here. We’ve done everything.’ And I said, ‘I’m aware of that. And I’m here to tell you there’s one more act of the show,’” he explained. “So I went backstage, I said, ‘Everybody, get on Zoom.’ I told everybody as briefly as I could so they wouldn’t find out about it on air. And then I went back out on stage to tell everybody. And I was so nervous about doing it right — because there was nothing in the prompter, I was just speaking off the cuff — that I f— up twice. And I had to restart and the audience thought it was a bit and they started going, ‘Steve, you can do it.’ Because I always messed up on the sentence that told them what was happening. And then I got to the sentence that actually told them was happening, and they didn’t laugh.”
Kimmel, in turn, shared that he found out about “The Late Show’s” cancellation while attending a No Kings protest march.
Kimmel says he took the call from ABC about his suspension from the bathroom
Jimmy Kimmel on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” Tuesday.
(Scott Kowalchyk/CBS)
Like Colbert, Tuesday marked the first time Kimmel had been interviewed since his suspension earlier this month, and he detailed the day he got the news he was being pulled from the air.
Kimmel’s office is busy — there’s roughly five other people working in there with him at all times, he told Colbert. So when ABC executives wanted to speak with him less than two hours before he was set to tape that night’s episode, Kimmel resorted to the bathroom to take the call in private.
“I’m on the phone with the ABC executives, and they say, ‘Listen, we want to take the temperature down. We’re concerned about what you’re gonna say tonight, and we decided that the best route is to take the show off the air,’” Kimmel said before the audience interjected with boos.
“There was a vote, and I lost the vote, and so I put my pants back on and I walked out to my office,” before telling some of his producing team the news, he said. “My wife said I was whiter than Jim Gaffigan when I came out.”
The decision on Kimmel’s suspension came so late in the day that the audience was already in their seats and had to be sent home, Kimmel told Colbert.
A sign of the times?
While touting the crossover event in his monologue (“We thought it might be a fun way to drive the President nuts so…”), Kimmel took time to stress the groundswell of support Colbert has both in New York, where he does his show, and in Kimmel’s homebase of L.A. To prove it, the camera cut to a photo showing signs that were displayed over the 101 freeway in L.A. when Kimmel went back on the air following his suspension. They read: “Public pressure works — Kimmel is back!”
“And this is the sign that is up now,” Kimmel continued, cutting to video of more recent signage over the freeway. “It says, “Now do Colbert.”
Gavin Newsom traveled to Brooklyn. Or did he?
Seth Meyers, left, Josh Meyers as California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Jimmy Kimmel on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
(Randy Holmes/ABC)
The California governor — who also moonlights (by proxy of his social media team) as the unofficial No. 1 Trump troll — made the cross-country trip to Brooklyn to surprise Kimmel on stage. Or did he? As the host mentioned the politician’s latest jab at Trump during his monologue, Newsom barreled onto the stage on a bike before finding his place next to Kimmel for a roughly six-minute spiel, delivered in his best California bro speak, on his mission to bring people together.
“L.A and N.Y.C., we’re not so different,” Newsom said. “I mean, we both just want to be free to smoke weed while riding our electric scooters to a drag queen brunch.”
As Kimmel pressed how exactly they can succeed in coming together, a blustering Newsom responded: “We already started, dog. These people get it. They have their own great late night hosts here in NYC, but tonight they chose my homie from L.A. They could be partying with my dude, J-Fall and The Roots crew — they’re a rap band … because you did look confused. Anyway, these Brooklyn-istas came to see you instead of checking out the political commentary of John Oliver or J-Stew or pay their respects to Colbert before he shipped off to Guantanamo Gay, or they could have gone and watched whatever that little creep Seth Meyers is doing … dude dresses like a substitute Montessori teacher. I mean, do you know why he sits down for his jokes? Same reason yo’ mama sits down to pee.”
Cue a special appearance from Seth Meyers, Kimmel’s friend and fellow late night host to rein in … his brother? For the non-late night connoisseurs reading this: Meyers’ brother, Josh, played the “Covid bro” version of Newsom during the pandemic in sketches that aired on NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers.” Newsom took the gag further on Tuesday, impersonating Josh impersonating himself on Kimmel’s stage.
“We’re bros, but no, we’re not,” Newsom as Josh said. “Look, I get this all the time, probably because we’re both so hot.”
Meanwhile, keeping the planned awkwardness going, Kimmel took the opportunity to mention to Meyers that he was in town if he wanted to get dinner. Meyers responded: “What happened with your show? I thought this whole thing was, you know … “
“We’re back on the air,” Kimmel said. “We’re back on now.”
It should also be noted that Kimmel, Colbert and Meyers later posed for a photo onstage and uploaded it to their respective social media accounts with the caption, “Hi Donald!”
Guillermo brings the fun (and the tequila)
Guillermo Rodriguez, left, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert taking a round of shots on “The Late Show.”
(Scott Kowalchyk/CBS)
Looking ahead at the remaining months Colbert will be on the air, Kimmel asked the host when he was going to “go nuts,” and suggested he lose his glasses and “maybe do some ayahuasca on set.” Kimmel then gifted him a bong with a Statue of Liberty design, which he called a “chemistry set.”
Colbert started playing along by unbuttoning his blazer and saying “f— that” to a signal that he only had a minute left in the segment. (“What are they gonna do, cancel me?” Colbert asked). Then, as if right on cue, Guillermo Rodriguez, Kimmel’s friend and sidekick on his show, came onto the stage with tequila (and three shot glasses) in hand.
On the first round of Don Julio, Colbert made a toast: “To good friends, great jobs and late-night TV.”
Colbert then poured another round and Kimmel pulled out the bong he had gifted the host. The group then took one more shot together and Kimmel toasted to Colbert.
Guillermo, who got a round of hearty cheers from the crowd, is known for giving out shots and toasting with A-Listers at awards shows and other Hollywood events.
“But you can’t take anything for granted in this game. These players are hungry.
“I need to keep on my toes, keep on the practice board, make sure I stay humble.”
Premier League Darts star Stephen Bunting ‘moonlighting as Rangers steward’ as incredible Ibrox doppelganger spotted
After beating Chris Landman on Saturday night, he explained his shoes dilemma, saying: “I was playing in expensive shoes without the spikes, and they were marking.
“So, my idea is use the spikes and they won’t touch the oche and they will last a lot longer.
“And if someone upsets me, they will get one of them in the back!”
While Thursday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was preempted by a rerun of “Celebrity Family Feud,” continuing ABC’s indefinite suspension of the talk show, some of Kimmel’s late-night colleagues used their platform to sound off.
On “The Daily Show,” which airs on Paramount-owned Comedy Central and has rotating hosts, Jon Stewart suited up for emceeing duties outside his usual Monday slot. Desi Lydic had been hosting this week, but the comedian had something to say about the issues surrounding his friend Kimmel.
Stewart leaned heavy into irony from the start of the show, saying it is now the “all new, government-approved” version, and was introduced as the evening’s “patriotically obedient host.” Stewart frequently scolded the audience for laughing at his sarcastic pandering to the Trump administration. He said the show was being taped in the “crime-ridden cesspool that is New York City” and notes that “someone’s National Guard should invade this place, am I right?”
“I don’t know who this ‘Johnny Drimmel Live’ ABC character is, but the point is, our great administration has laid out very clear rules on free speech,” Stewart said. “Some naysayers may argue that this administration’s speech concerns are merely a cynical ploy, a thin gruel of a ruse, a smoke screen to obscure an unprecedented consolidation of power and unitary intimidation, principleless and coldly antithetical to any experiment in a constitutional republic governance. Some people would say that. Not me, though, I think it’s great.”
Stewart and the correspondents then serenaded the president with an off-key tune filled with compliments and praises.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Fallon, host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” briefly addressed the situation in his monologue Thursday night saying, “To be honest with you all, I don’t know what’s going on — no one does. But I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he is a decent, funny and loving guy. And I hope he comes back.”
Fallon said he would continue his monologue “just like I normally would,” but the punchline of his jokes about Trump came with an announcer interrupting any possible slights with flattery.
Earlier in the day, the host had canceled a scheduled appearance at Fast Company’s Innovation Festival in New York City, where he was set to join a panel titled “Staying on Brand”; organizers did not respond to a request for comment about the cancellation of his appearance.
Seth Meyers, host of NBC’s “Late Night,” also didn’t avoid the topic. He opened his segment “A Closer Look” on Thursday by cracking jokes about how anything negative he’s said about the president is an AI-generated deepfake. “I’ve always believed he was a visionary, an innovator, a great president and even better golfer,” he joked.
He proceeded to show clips from Trump’s recent trip to the U.K., poking fun at the president’s comments and protesters who rallied against his visit. But later in the segment, Meyers’ began to show clips of Trump touting his efforts to “stop all government censorship” and bring back free speech, before cutting to news clips about Kimmel’s suspension.
“Trump promised to end government censorship and bring back free speech, and he’s doing the opposite, and it has experts worried that we’re rapidly devolving into an oppressive autocracy in the style of Russia or Hungary, much faster than anyone could have predicted,” Meyers continued.
The host also commented on his personal relationship with Kimmel, saying it’s a “privilege and an honor” to be his friend, in the same way he feels privileged to host his own show. “I wake up every day, I count my blessings that I live in a country that at least purports to value freedom of speech, and we’re going to keep doing our show the way we’ve always done it, with enthusiasm and integrity,” he said.
“The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” added David Remnick, the editor in chief of the New Yorker, to its lineup Thursday, which already included CNN journalist Jake Tapper. Colbert’s show generated its own headlines this summer when CBS announced the late-night talk show would be canceled after the season wraps in May 2026 — effectively ending the franchise after 33 years on the air. The decision, the company said, was due to financial reasons rather than a response to Colbert’s criticism of a deal between the Trump administration and Paramount, the parent company of CBS, the network that airs “The Late Show,” as many have speculated.
Colbert used his vocal talents Thursday to sing a tune about the situation, presenting a short song as a message from ABC and its parent company, Walt Disney. The song was to the tune of “Be Our Guest,” the “Beauty and The Beast” classic — except the repeating refrain is “shut your trap.”
Colbert sings as an animated clip of the candlestick character Lumière from the movie plays, but he’s donning a red MAGA hat here. “Shut your trap, we’re warning you to cut the crap. Our dear leader’s skin is thinner than a sheet of plastic wrap,” he sings.”Mum’s the word, have you heard, kissing a— is what’s preferred. Don’t insult our great dictator or he’ll hit you with this turd,” the song continues as a photo of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr appears on screen.
“The new rule at ABC: Don’t make fun of Donny T,” he sings. “So don’t you make a scene or mention Jeff Epstein, or your show will be scrapped — shut your trap.”
Colbert also spoke about the suspension in a monologue, reading a social media post from Carr that said “While this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values.”
“You know what my community values are, buster?” Colbert asked. “Freedom of speech.”
Colbert discussed Kimmel’s situation with Tapper, who brought up the Department of Justice’s review of Disney’s deal to take a controlling stake in streaming company FuboTV, which brings up potential antitrust issues. Tapper questioned what Bob Iger, Disney’s chief executive, would do about Kimmel given that he has business before the Justice Department. “Is he going to poke the bear, Donald Trump, or is he going to ignore this great tradition we have in this country, of not acquiescing — of media, newspapers, comedians, television — not acquiescing to power?”
Democratic Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly is also scheduled to appear in an episode of “The Late Show” airing Monday; Kelly last appeared on the show last year ahead of the November 2024 presidential election, discussing border security and gun reform.
Earlier on Thursday, while taking part in a panel conversation moderated by the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, late-night veteran David Letterman, who once helmed “The Late Show” on CBS, described this week’s turn of events as “misery.”
“In the world of somebody who’s an authoritarian, maybe a dictatorship, sooner or later, everyone is going to be touched,” Letterman said. He first addressed what transpired with Colbert and the cancellation of “The Late Show,” alluding to political pressure as the real culprit, before addressing the decision to yank Kimmel’s show.
“I just feel bad about this because we all see where this is going, correct?” he said. “It’s managed media. And it’s no good. It’s silly. It’s ridiculous. And you can’t go around firing somebody because you’re fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian — a criminal — administration in the Oval Office. That’s just not how this works.”
With three decades in the late-night circuit, Letterman never shied from mocking presidents: “Beating up on these people,” he said, “rightly or wrongly, accurately or perhaps inaccurately, in the name of comedy — not once were we squeezed by anyone from any government agency, let alone the dreaded FCC.”
ABC carried out the decision to take Kimmel off the air Wednesday after the comedian and host made comments about conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death during his opening monologue on Monday night.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said.
Kimmel has not yet commented publicly on the matter. But his show’s suspension quickly ignited fierce debate, with critics accusing ABC and its parent company, Disney, of capitulating to political pressure. Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, said Wednesday that his agency might take action against ABC because of Kimmel’s comments.
“This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney,” Carr said on the Benny Johnson podcast. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
President Trump lauded Kimmel’s suspension in a post he wrote on his Truth Social media site: “Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED.” (The show has not been canceled, but remains on hold.)
It’s also worth noting Kimmel’s outspoken daytime counterparts were mum on the issue. “The View’s” panelists did not address the Kimmel situation during Thursday’s episode. (“Good Morning America,” which is produced by ABC News, did mention the news of the Kimmel hiatus without additional commentary.)
Meanwhile, Kimmel’s fictional late-night competitor, Deborah Vance, has an opinion on the ordeal — or rather, actor Jean Smart does. She may only play a late-night television host on TV, but the “Hacks” actress was quick to share her thoughts on the decision to pull Kimmel from the air: “What Jimmy said was FREE speech, not hate speech,” Smart shared in an Instagram post. “People seem to only want to protect free speech when its suits THEIR agenda.” (Kimmel made a cameo in the recent season of “Hacks.”)
She went on to write: “Thought I didn’t agree at ALL with Charlie Kirk; his shooting death sickened me; and should have sickened any decent human being. What is happening to our country?”
Stephen Graham has revealed that a follow-up to Adolescence is in the works following the Emmy Award-winning success of the Netflix hit but cannot say much right now
Stephen Graham has revealed that a follow-up to Adolescence is in the works.(Image: Variety via Getty Images)
Stephen picked up Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the ceremony, whilst Owen Cooper, 15, who played teenager Jamie, received the gong for Outstanding Supporting Actor.
Filming for each episode of the drama series was carried out in one continuous take, and Stephen, who is also known for his roles in This Is England and Peaky Blinders, has revealed that another project that would follow the same sort of production method is potentially on the way, but has to be ‘tight-lipped’ about it at the moment.
Stephen said: “Right now we are having talks and discussions about finding another story. I think we have to be tight-lipped at the moment.” He went on to tell the Daily Mail: “And we’re all talking at the moment. The same concept with the idea of doing something in one take.”
The programme examines so-called incel (involuntary celibate) culture, which has led to misogyny online and bullying using social media.
Adolescence has prompted a national conversation around online safety, with Graham and co-creator Jack Thorne accepting an invitation to a parliamentary meeting on the subject by Labour MP Josh MacAlister.
Speaking to Parliament’s Women And Equalities Committee (WEC) during an evidence session, Thorne spoke about being subjected to “personal criticism or even abuse” since it began streaming.
The Netflix series received critical acclaim when it was released earlier this year (Image: AP)
He said: “You know that I’m a bald, skinny, weird-looking man, and some people have made something of the fact that I’m a bald, skinny, weird-looking man, and saying these things and that somehow my masculinity is the reason why I’ve questioned other people’s masculinity.
“Well, if you look at how Stephen Graham looks, he looks more male than anyone else on the planet, I think, and so we’re a combination of things and we work together on it all.
“So, yes, my looks have been put under the microscope a little bit by it all, but I’m absolutely comfortable with those questions being answered, and that’s the thing, when I talk about boys feeling that they need to look a certain way.”
Stephen picked up Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the ceremony, whilst Owen Cooper, 15, who played teenager Jamie, received the gong for Outstanding Supporting Actor(Image: Variety via Getty Images)
He said the comments about his appearance were a symptom of the issues the show is highlighting. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has also praised the show, urging Parliament and schools to watch it, and saying he had watched the show with his own children.
During an edition of Prime Minister’s Questions in March, Sir Keir said: “This violence carried out by young men, influenced by what they see online, is a real problem, it’s abhorrent, and we have to tackle it.”
The show also received plaudits for the way it was filmed in a one-shot format, which sees each of the four episodes filmed in a single shot. Speaking about the show ahead of its release, Cooper, who beat Scott Jacoby’s long-held record for the youngest male Emmy winner, said he got the role after sending in a tape.
Talking about the impact the show had on him in February, Cooper said: “One week before filming, it was my last day in school before I was off for six weeks and at the final assembly my head of year told the whole school something like, ‘Owen is going on a journey and making this show for Netflix…’, and I was like, ‘oh my God’.
“So it went from two or three people knowing to suddenly the whole year knowing about it, and everyone coming up to me and asking about it. It was a bit weird but everyone is fine with it.”
At the Emmys, co-star Erin Doherty, who plays psychologist Briony Ariston, won best supporting actress in a limited series, dedicating the award to her older sister while Graham picked up the award for lead actor in a limited series.
Doherty, 33, also worked with Graham in Disney+’s A Thousand Blows, where she played Mary Carr, the leader of a crime syndicate called the Forty Elephants and she has also played the Princess Royal in The Crown.
Adolescence recently scooped two gongs at this year’s National Television Awards (NTAs), including the new drama award and best drama performance for Cooper.
Sept. 15 (UPI) — Senate Republicans on Monday confirmed White House economic adviser Stephen Miran to join the Federal Reserve Board despite staunch Democratic concerns about his independence.
The Senate voted 48-47 mostly along party lines to narrowly approve Miran’s nomination to serve as governor on the Federal Reserve Board, an independent nonpartisan agency that has been targeted by the Trump administration as it seeks to consolidate federal government power.
He will fill the remainder of Adriana Kugler’s 14-year term, which is set to expire in January.
As one of seven Fed governors, Miran will be a key economic policymaker, voting on the country’s monetary policy, including U.S. interest rates, which President Donald Trump has been calling to be lowered for much of his second term.
Democrats have been in vocal opposition to Miran’s nomination, saying his appointment to the board would undermine its independence due to his loyalty to Trump and the fact that he will remain chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
“Stephen Miran isn’t being nominated to help families. He’s being put on the Fed to do Trump’s bidding,” Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona, said in a statement defending his “no” vote.
“He’ll do whatever helps Trump politically and leave us all with higher prices and a bad job market.”
Republicans backed the nomination, with the GOP-led U.S. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C., saying it is “a win” for the American people.
“He brings deep experience, proven leadership and a clear commitment to ensuring the American economy remains strong and competitive. I am confident Dr. Miran will act in an independent manner,” Scott said in a statement.
The Senate took up the vote Monday after the Senate Banking Committee earlier in the day voted to advance Miran’s nomination for the seat left vacant by Kugler, a Biden nominee, who abruptly resigned.
Miran said during the committee hearing that he would take a leave of absence from his position at the White House while finishing the remainder of Kugler’s term. That unusual arrangement and Trump’s pressure campaign to get the Fed to lower interest rates has stoked concern about the independence of the central bank.
“You are going to be technically an employee of the president of the United States, but an independent member of the board of the Federal Reserve?” Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, said during the hearing. “That’s ridiculous.”
Miran said during the hearing that his thinking process would be independent while serving on the board. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., replied that they would hold him to that.
Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said in a recorded statement before the Senate vote that if Miran is confirmed he will call for him to resign as Trump’s chief economic advisor.
“He cannot have someone simultaneously working for the White House, working directly under Donald Trump, and sitting on the board of the Federal Reserve,” he said, adding that several of his Republican colleagues have told him that they are also “very uncomfortable” with arrangement.
“If he wants to go, he has to resign his position at the White House.”
The Fed is expected to begin discussions on interest rates Tuesday.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powellhas been reluctant to lower the cost of borrowing despite sharp criticism and insults by Trump, who is viewed as seeking to undermine the central bank’s independence.
Trump has attempted to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, alleging she committed mortgage fraud. A judge earlier found the charge to be unfounded and ordered her to be reinstated.
Stephen Graham was presented with the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for his role in Netflix’s Adolescence.
Hayley Anderson TV Reporter
17:02, 15 Sep 2025Updated 17:15, 15 Sep 2025
Stephen Graham couldn’t help but get emotional during his Emmy acceptance speech as he stated “this kind of thing doesn’t happen to a kid like me”.
Adolescence became an instant global success when it was dropped on Netflix earlier this year, telling the story of a teenage boy accused of fatally stabbing another child.
Graham portrayed Eddie, the father of said teenager Jamie Miller, portrayed by 15-year-old Owen Cooper who has become the youngest male actor to win an Emmy.
When the 52-year-old took to the stage himself to claim his award for Outstanding Lead Actor, he touched upon his past before becoming an actor.
Graham shared: “This kind of thing doesn’t happen to a kid like me. I’m just a mixed race kid from a block of flats in a place called Kirkby.
“So for me, to be here today, in front of my peers and to be acknowledged by you is the utmost humbling thing I could ever imagine in my life, and it shows you that any dream is possible.”
Stephen and Owen Cooper as Eddie and Jamie Miller in Netflix’s Adolescence(Image: NETFLIX)
While Graham was born in Kirby, Lancashire, he has both Jamaican and Swedish heritage on his father’s side.
His biological grandfather was part of the Windrush generation who moved to the UK from Jamaica in the 1960s but died before the actor was born.
Graham previously opened up on experiencing bullying when he was younger, telling Desert Island Discs: “I’m mixed race and that was kind of frowned on in those days.
“There were times growing up when I was slightly unsure where I fitted in. That n-word popped up when I was younger.”
Emmy Award winning stars Stephen, Owen and Erin Doherty who received their accolades for Netflix’s Adolescence(Image: GETTY)
Graham also spoke about how it was his step-father Mike Fazakerley, who he affectionately calls Pops, helped him through this difficult time.
He added: “He [Mike] helped me see who I am and what I am is good enough.
“He helped me find my own way and I got that sense of self in many respects from my mother, finding your own way.”
Adolescence proved to be the overall winners of the night at the Emmy this weekend with the show taking home six awards.
This included accolades for both Graham and Cooper’s performances, as well as for Limited or Anthology series, and Outstanding Supporting Actress for Erin Doherty.
You Bet! host and TV favourite Stephen Mulhern has made a rare admission about his father following his death as he revealed how he gave him his start in magic
Stephen Mulhern has made a rare admission about his father following his death. The magician, 48, was left devastated in November last year when his father Christopher passed away at the age of 76.
Since then, the TV star has remained relatively private about the tragedy, but during an appearance on Friday’s This Morning, he was able to open up about his father when host Dermot O’Leary sensitively reminded him about his dad, who was also a magician, played a major part in kickstarting his career.
The TV star was on the sofa to discuss the new series of You Bet! but felt able to open up about his dad when Dermot O’Leary mentioned him(Image: ITV)
Dermot began: “There’s a lovely story, I remember we were eating dinner together and you were telling me about what a great man your dad was. He was almost responsible, wasn’t he?”
Stephen replied: “My dad loved magic and he was a brilliant magician. I started when I was 11 and he would teach me tricks.”
Dermot added: “Wasn’t one of the acts ill or something?” and Stephen, shocked at what the TV star could remember replied: “God, you’ve got a good memory!
“Yeah, so [at Butlin’s] one of the acts didn’t turn up and my dad said, ‘Well my son’s a magician and he’ll fill in for you.’ I got my spot on stage and I feel incredibly lucky.”
The magician has become a TV favourite over the years and emotionally recalled how it was his dad who got helped get him his start (Image: Getty Images)
Just weeks after losing his father, Stephen was back on screens at the Royal Variety. He took to the stage at the Royal Albert Hall, performing a magic trick in front of His Majesty The King and millions of viewers at home.
Upon completion, the star dedicated the performance to his late father saying: “That was for you dad.”
Following his two-year stint as a Redcoat, Stephen joined The Magic Circle as its youngest-ever member at the age of just 17, and gained an appearance on Blue Peter off the back of this.
After appearing on The Big Big Talent Show with Jonathan Ross in the late 1990s, he was invited to perform at the Royal Variety before becoming a regular on CITV alongside Holly Willoughby.
In more recent years, he has hosted Britain’s Got More Talent and regularly fronts Catchphrase, but due back on the box with a new series of You Bet for ITV1, in which stars such Josie Gibson, Josh Widdecombe and Alesha Dixon bet on of members of the public and their ability to carry out certain tasks.
Miran, who currently sits on the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, has advocated for a far-reaching overhaul of Fed governance.
United States President Donald Trump has said he will nominate Stephen Miran, a top economic adviser to the US Federal Reserve’s board of governors, for four months, temporarily filling a vacancy while continuing his search for a longer-term appointment.
The president announced his decision on Thursday.
Miran, the chair of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, would fill a seat vacated by Governor Adriana Kugler, a Biden appointee who is stepping down Friday. Kugler is returning to her tenured professorship at Georgetown University.
The term expires January 31, 2026, and is subject to approval by the Senate. Trump said the White House continues to search for someone to fill the 14-year Fed board seat that opens on February 1.
Miran, who served as an economic adviser in the Department of the Treasury during the first Trump administration, has advocated for a far-reaching overhaul of Fed governance that would include shortening board member terms, putting them under the clear control of the president, and ending the “revolving door” between the executive branch and the Fed and nationalising the Fed’s 12 regional banks.
The appointment is Trump’s first opportunity to exert more control over the Fed, one of the few remaining federal agencies that is still independent. Trump has relentlessly criticised the current chair, Jerome Powell, for keeping short-term interest rates unchanged – a major point of contention between the White House and the central bank.
Miran has been a major defender of Trump’s income tax cuts and tariff hikes, arguing that the combination will generate enough economic growth to reduce budget deficits. He has also played down the risk that Trump’s tariffs will generate higher inflation, a major source of concern for Powell.
Trump has unsuccessfully pressured Fed policymakers – who include Powell, his six fellow board members and the 12 Fed bank presidents – to lower rates. Appointing Miran to the central bank, even in a placeholder role, gives the president a potentially more direct route to pursue his desire for easier monetary policy.
‘Trump loyalist’
It is unclear how much time Miran would have at the Fed to try to deploy his ideas, or even vote on interest rates, though.
All Fed nominees require Senate confirmation, a process that includes a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, a vote from that panel advancing the nomination and a series of floor votes before the full Senate, where Democrats have been slowing the pace of approval for Trump appointments.
“Stephen Miran is a Trump loyalist and one of the chief architects of the President’s chaotic tariff policy that has hurt Americans’ wallets,” the Senate Banking Committee’s top-ranking Democrat, Elizabeth Warren, said on X following the announcement. “I’ll have tough questions for him about whether he’d serve the American people or merely serve Donald Trump.”
The Senate is on summer recess until September 2.
There are just four policy-setting meetings, including one on September 16-17, before the end of what would be Miran’s term.
Fed policymakers kept the policy rate in its current 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent range at their July meeting, with Powell citing somewhat elevated inflation and the concern that Trump’s tariffs could keep it that way as reasons to keep policy restrictive.
Several central bankers this month have raised concerns about labour market weakness, and at least a couple have expressed renewed confidence that tariffs may not push up inflation as much as earlier thought. Those views echo the arguments made by two Fed governors who last month dissented on the decision to leave policy on hold.
In her first interview since losing the election to President Trump and leaving office, former Vice President Kamala Harris told Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show” that her decision not to run for California governor was more “basic” than saving herself for a “different office” — which is to say, another run for president in 2028.
After years of being a “devout public servant,” Harris said in the interview, set to air Thursday night, she just doesn’t want to be “in the system” right now.
“Recently I made the decision that I just — for now — I don’t want to go back in the system,” she said. “I think it’s broken.”
She said that was not to take away from the important work being done every day by “so many good people who are public servants,” such as teachers, firefighters, police officers and scientists.
“It’s not about them,” she said. “But you know, I believe, and I always believed, that as fragile as our democracy is, our systems would be strong enough to defend our most fundamental principles. And I think right now that they’re not as strong as they need to be.”
She said she instead wants to travel the country and talk to Americans in a setting that isn’t “transactional, where I’m asking for their vote.”
Colbert said to hear Harris — whom he called “very qualified for the presidency” — say that the American system is broken was “harrowing.”
“Well, but it’s also evident, isn’t it?” Harris replied, to applause from the studio audience.
The interview came on the heels of Harris’ announcements this week that she is not running for California governor and is releasing a memoir about her short, whirlwind presidential campaign following President Biden’s decision to drop from the race, and it was a big get for Colbert in what appears to be his final chapter on late-night TV.
CBS, blaming financial concerns across late night, announced July 17 that the 2025-2026 season of “The Late Show” would be its last.
The announcement followed Colbert sharply criticizing Paramount Global’s $16-million settlement with Trump over a CBS News “60 Minutes” interview with Harris during the presidential campaign, which Trump accused the venerable news show of manipulating to make her look better.
Paramount Global was at the time seeking a major merger with Skydance Media and needed the Trump administration’s approval, which it ultimately got. Just days before the announcement that his show would be ending, Colbert described the “60 Minutes” settlement as a bribe to get the merger deal done.
All that caused many observers and allies of Colbert to speculate that the cancellation of the show was political in nature. The Writers Guild of America, for example, said the company appeared to be “sacrificing free speech to curry favor with the Trump Administration.”
Trump said it was “not true” that he was “solely responsible for the firing of Stephen Colbert,” and that the “reason he was fired was a pure lack of TALENT” and that Colbert’s show was losing Paramount millions of dollars a year.
“And it was only going to get WORSE!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Paramount has said the decision was “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount,” though some polling has suggested many Americans don’t believe the company.
It’s unclear whether Harris considered any of that in granting Colbert her first interview since leaving office. However, it would almost certainly not have been her only reason.
Colbert is liberal and seen as a friendly interviewer by Democrats.
During Thursday’s interview, the late-night host heaped praise on Harris. After saying it was “harrowing” to hear she feels the system is broken, he asked whether she was giving up fighting.
Harris said she was not.
“I am always going to be part of the fight,” Harris said. “That is not going to change.”
“I played all right there,” Clayton told Sky Sports. “Total respect to Stephen, he didn’t play his best game but I kept him under pressure at times. I played well.”
Earlier in the evening, Wade found himself 4-1 down to Van Veen, despite dominating almost every leg as poor finishing cost him.
But the Englishman came out with renewed determination after the break and won the next eight legs on the spin to take control.
Although Van Veen closed the gap and finished the match with the better average – 99.24 to 96.35 – and a better checkout percentage, Wade did enough to see it through.
“I thought I’d thrown it away,” the 42-year-old told Sky Sports. “Towards the end, he was coming back and it was God’s gift to me, not my ability [that secured the win].
“I had a very stern word with myself [after the first session], I was disgusted. You do what you need to do.
“I’m lucky he didn’t make the most of his opportunities. But then if I’d made the most of mine, I’d have been 5-0 or 10-0 up. I’m proper buzzing.”
The third and fourth quarter-finals take place at Winter Gardens on Friday evening with world champion Luke Littler facing Andrew Gilding, while Wales’ Gerwyn Price takes on Josh Rock of Northern Ireland.
Stephen Maguire has won the first ranking event of the season, beating Joe O’Connor 3-1 in the final of the 2025 Championship League in Leicester.
It is the 44-year-old Scot’s seventh career ranking title from 15 finals and his first since winning the 2020 Tour Championship.
The tournament, which takes place over three stages and began at Leicester Arena on 30 June, reached its finale on Wednesday, with just eight of the 128-strong field remaining.
Maguire booked his spot in the final after topping Group 2 in a best-of-four frame round-robin. The 15th seed beat Matthew Selt (3-0) and Ben Mertens (3-0) before losing to China’s Pang Junxu (3-1).
Leicester-born O’Connor, seeded 16th, only dropped two frames to finish first in Group 1, beating Ricky Walden (3-1), Xu Si (3-1), and Tom Ford (3-0).
In the best-of-five frame final, Maguire took a 2-0 lead before O’Connor pulled one frame back with a 99-point break. However, Maguire produced a match-winning 89 to secure the title with a frame to spare.
There’s a lot of schadenfreude on the right, and even more lamentation on the left, about the cancellation of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”
Donald Trump leads the schadenfreude caucus. “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings,” Trump crowed on social media. “I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!” (It is remarkable that a president who campaigned with a vow to end “cancel culture” is so uninhibited in his celebration of cancel culture when it’s on his terms.)
The lamentations from the left are just as exuberant, from the other direction. They hail Colbert as a heroic martyr for free expression and speaking truth to power. “Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country’s leader on TV without repercussions,” MSNBC’s Chris Hayes declared.
In a sense, both sides essentially agree that Colbert was canceled because of his politics. The argument from the left is that this was unfair and even illegitimate. The illegitimate claim rests on the fact that CBS’s parent company Paramount has been trying to curry favor with the administration to gain approval for the sale of the network to Skydance Media. Shari Redstone, Paramount’s owner, approved a settlement of Trump’s dubious lawsuit against “60 Minutes” (which Colbert had criticized days earlier as a “big fat bribe”). Colbert’s scalp was a sweetener, critics claim.
I think that theory is plausible, given the timing of the decision and the way it was announced. If this was the plan all along, why not announce the decision at the 2025 upfronts and sell ads in tandem with the wind-down? That’s the way this sort of thing has been done in the past.
But Colbert’s critics on the right have an equally plausible point. Colbert made the show very political and partisan, indulging his Trump “resistance” schtick to the point where he basically cut the potential national audience in half. He leaned heavily on conventionally liberal politicians (tellingly, on the night he announced the news of his cancellation, his first guest was California Sen. Adam Schiff — a man who couldn’t get a laugh if you hit him in the face with a pie).
But both the left-wing and right-wing interpretations have some holes. The theory that this was purely a political move overlooks the fact that CBS didn’t merely fire Colbert, it’s terminating the iconic “Late Show” entirely and giving the airtime back to local affiliates. If they solely wanted to curry favor with Trump, they could have given the show to more Trump-friendly (funnier and popular with the young’ns) comedians such as Shane Gillis or Andrew Schulz. The show was reportedly losing some $40 million a year. Even if they hired someone for a quarter of Colbert’s $15- million salary, it would still be losing money.
On the right, many — Trump included — have pointed to the fact that Greg Gutfeld’s not-quite-late-night Fox show has better ratings than his competitors on the three legacy networks. That’s true, but it’s hardly as if Gutfeld is any less partisan than Colbert, Kimmel or Jimmy Fallon.
It’s also true that the titans of previous eras — Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien — tended to avoid strident partisanship. But the nostalgia-fueled idea that a more mainstream, apolitical host would garner similar audiences again gets the causality backward.
Those hosts were products of a different era, when huge numbers of Americans from across the political spectrum consumed the same cultural products. The hosts, much like news networks and newspapers, had a powerful business incentive to play it down the middle and avoid alienating large swaths of their audiences and advertisers. That era is over, forever.
Now media platforms look to garner small “sticky” audiences they can monetize by giving them exactly what they want. There’s an audience for Colbert, and for Gutfeld, but what makes the roughly 2 million to 3 million nightly viewers who love that stuff tune in makes the other 330 million potential viewers tune in to something else. The “Late Show” model — and budget — simply doesn’t work with those numbers.
Cable news, led by Fox, ushered in political polarization in news consumption, but cable itself fueled the balkanization of popular culture. Streaming and podcast platforms, led by YouTube, are turbocharging that trend to the point where media consumption is now a la carte (artificial intelligence may soon make it nigh upon bespoke).
The late-night model was built around a culture in which there was little else to watch. That culture is never coming back.
We seem to be in an era of endings. The end of ethical norms, of the rule of law, of science, of democracy, of Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast, possibly the world and the just-announced end of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” when the host’s contract runs out in 10 months — which may presage the end of late-night television, at least on CBS, which says it has no plans to replace him or keep the show.
Coincidentally, or not, Paramount Global, which owns CBS, is seeking regulatory approval from the Trump administration to sell itself to the Hollywood studio Skydance Media. (I’d never heard of it either.) An official statement, claiming that the “Late Show” cancellation represents “a purely financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night … not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount” (italics mine) is — however true it might be — just the sort of thing to make one say, “Pull the other one.”
“Other matters” would seem to refer to the merger and to Paramount’s recent payment of $16 million to settle a frivolous Trump lawsuit over the perfectly routine editing of a “60 Minutes” Kamala Harris interview that was somehow supposed to give Harris an unfair advantage in the 2024 election and to have caused her opponent “mental anguish” — a payment Colbert characterized in a monologue just a few days ago as a “big fat bribe”: “As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I am offended. And I don’t know if anything will ever repair my trust in this company. But just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would help.”
Though he responded to his studio audience’s supportive boos saying, “Yeah, I share your feelings,” he was only kind to the network: “I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners,” Colbert said. “I’m so grateful to the Tiffany network for giving me this chair and this beautiful theater to call home.”
But there have been plenty of surrogates to draw connections, provide context and bite harder, especially in light of the departure of “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens and CBS News President Wendy McMahon. “Love you Stephen,” ABC host Jimmy Kimmel, posted on Instagram, “adding “F— you CBS and all your Sheldons.” (In January, ABC also settled a Trump suit for $16 million, over George Stephanopoulos erroneously saying that Trump had been found civilly liable of “rape.”)
Of the remaining late-night hosts, we may say that each is special in their own way. Colbert, 61, who has been at “The Late Show” for 10 years, is the most mature, professorial and philosophical — gentle, a gentleman, and at times a mock-gentleman, addressing his audience as “My fellow Americans,” or echoing Walter Winchell, “Mr. and Mrs. America and All the Ships at Sea,” or as “Ladies and Gentlemen.” He slaps himself in the face twice before every show to “be in the moment … [to] only do this for the next hour.” Though he may still kick up his heels during a monologue, as an interviewer he is composed and thoughtful and curious — and funny, to be sure — to the degree each conversation demands. A committed (liberal) Catholic, he co-narrated the English-language audiobook of Pope Francis’ “Life: My Story Through History,” with Franciscan Father John Quigley, at the same time, he’s a first-generation Dungeons & Dragons devotee, a lifelong reader of science fiction and a man of whom director Peter Jackson said, “I have never met a bigger Tolkien geek in my life.” (Jackson cast him as “Laketown spy” in “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.”) He’s a person who will quote Gandalf in a conversation on grief and loss with Anderson Cooper, or, on “The Friendship Onion” podcast with Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd, a.k.a. Merry and Pippin, declare that after reading “The Lord of the Rings” after college, “I realized that Aragorn is the Apollonian model of manhood … The Hobbits are us. And we should love life as much as they do.”
And he knows a thing or two about Ronnie James Dio. And grew up on Mad magazine, where young minds were taught to recognize the deceptions and hypocrisies of politics, business and media.
Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report,” which he hosted from 2005 through 2014, had a huge cultural effect beyond the reach of any late-night host now, Colbert included. Because it ran on basic cable and not network television, and because Colbert hid within the character of a pompous conservative pundit, the show could take wild swings; to the extent it looked respectable, it was only a matter of irony. Colbert and Jon Stewart, on whose “The Daily Show,” where Colbert had earlier worked, staged a “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” on the National Mall in Washington, which drew a crowd of more than 200,000; he ran for president twice and created a PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, “100 percent legal and at least 10 percent ethical.”
During its run, he (or his writers) gave the world “truthiness,” named 2006’s Word of the Year by Merriam-Webster, which defined it as “a truthful or seemingly truthful quality that is claimed for something not because of supporting facts or evidence but because of a feeling that it is true or a desire for it to be true.” Colbert was twice named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People. Ben & Jerry’s created an ice cream flavor, Stephen Colbert’s AmeriCone Dream, in his honor, and NASA dubbed a piece of exercise equipment for use on the International Space Station the “Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill,” or COLBERT.
Testifying in character in 2010, before a House Judiciary subcommittee on legal status for immigrant farmworkers, he said, as if looking into 2025, “This is America,” he said, “I don’t want my tomato picked by a Mexican. I want it picked by an American, then sliced by a Guatemalan and served by a Venezuelan in a spa where a Chilean gives me a Brazilian … My great grandfather did not travel over 4,000 miles of the Atlantic Ocean to see the country overrun by immigrants. He did it because he killed a man back in Ireland. That’s the rumor, I don’t know if that’s true. I’d like to have that stricken from the record.”
The signature segment of “The Late Show” is the “Colbert Questionert” in which the host poses 15 questions “ergonomically designed to penetrate straight to the soul of one of my guests and reveal their true being to the world.” (It’s “a scientifically verified survey; I’ve asked several scientists and they assured me — yeah, it’s a survey.”) Designed to create comic and/or sincere responses, they range from “What’s the best sandwich?” (Will Ferrell: “Salami and grapefruit on rye, with a light sheen of mayonnaise.”) to “Apples or oranges?” (Colbert considers apples the correct answer, because you can put peanut butter on them.) to “The rest of your life in five words.” (Tom Hanks: “A magnificent cavalcade of color.”) Cate Blanchett took it lying on Colbert’s desk, as if in therapy. “What do you think happens when we die?” he asked. “You turn into a soup,” she replied. “A human soup.”
But it’s Colbert’s extended interviews and discussions, from “The Late Show” and elsewhere, posted online, that dig the deepest and reveal the most about him in the bargain: a much circulated conversation with Nick Cave from last year; a long talk with Anderson Cooper, after the death of his mother, both about grief and gratitude; an episode of “The Spiritual Life With Fr. James Martin, S.J.,” from a couple of weeks ago. (Colbert describes himself as “publicly Catholic,” not “a public Catholic.”) Such discussions perhaps point the way to a post-”Late Show” practice for Colbert, much as it became one for David Letterman, who passed the seat on to him. (He’s only the second host since the show’s premiere in 1993.)
As to the field he’ll be leaving next May, who can say? Taylor Tomlinson‘s “After Midnight” game show, which followed “The Late Show,” expired this week. Kimmel and Seth Meyers, who go as hard against Trump as does Colbert, and the milder Jimmy Fallon, seem for the moment safely fixed at their desks. Though new platforms and viewing habits have changed the way, and how much, it’s consumed, late-night television by its temporal nature remains a special province, out at the edge of things, where edgy things may be said and tried. (Don’t expect Colbert to go quietly into that goodnight.) Yet even as the No. 1 show in late night, “The Late Show” reportedly loses money. There’s something to that “financial decision,” I’m sure; it’s the “purely” that smells. We’ll see.
“I absolutely love that Colbert got fired,” Trump posted on his vanity social media site, going on to say that he “hears” that “Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert.” Trump and Colbert could not be farther apart as humans. The president sells fear; he uses it as a club. But the TV host is sanguine.
“You can’t laugh and be afraid at the same time,” Colbert is fond of saying, sometimes adding, “and the Devil cannot stand mockery.”
The shocking cancellation of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” is a sign that time is running out for one of TV’s most beloved formats.
The late-night talk show was invented in the 1950s as a way for networks to own their own programming rather than have it provided by sponsors. Now, amid shrinking audiences and a politically turbulent climate for free speech, the familiar desk-and-sofa tableau is in serious trouble.
CBS announced Thursday that the upcoming 2025-26 TV season for “The Late Show” will be its last. Executives blamed the cancellation on financial concerns felt across all network late-night shows. Last year, NBC cut “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” to four nights a week while “Late Night With Seth Meyers” cut its live band.
Still, industry veterans were bewildered by the timing.
It’s hard to imagine Paramount Global executives did not anticipate blowback from announcing the move days after Colbert blasted the company’s $16-million settlement with President Trump over CBS News’ “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris. Colbert described the deal as a bribe during his Monday monologue.
Every move the company makes is now under a microscope as it tries to get the Federal Communications Commission, led by Trump acolyte Brendan Carr, to approve an $8-billion merger with Skydance Media. Canceling the most watched late-night program hosted by one of Trump’s harshest critics will draw even more scrutiny.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), weighed in on X shortly after taping an interview on Colbert’s program.
“If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better,” Schiff posted.
The Writers Guild of America also raised questions, saying the cancellation appeared to be a case of “sacrificing free speech to curry favor with the Trump Administration.”
One factor contradicting the theory is that Colbert, who has another year on his contract, will remain on the air through May. His commentaries have never been restrained by network executives over his 10-year run and that situation is not expected to change in his final season.
The poor optics may be a matter of contractual timing.
Paramount Global had to complete the deals with writer-producer teams in July for the upcoming “Late Show” season, according to a person familiar with the discussions who was not authorized to comment.
Those deals typically run for a full year, but with the company’s intention to cancel the program — decided several months ago — the contracts being offered only ran through May, which tipped off the network’s plans.
When Colbert learned of the cancellation decision on Wednesday, he made the call to inform his staff and his audience the next day.
“Late Show” is said to be losing somewhere in the tens of millions of dollars a year as younger viewers have fled. Since 2022, the program has lost 20% of its audience in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49 age group, according to Nielsen data.
Ad revenue for “Late Show” in 2024 was $57.7 million, according to iSpot.tv, down from $75.7 million in 2022. “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on NBC and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on ABC have also seen significant declines over that period.
CBS has already given up on one hour of late night due to financial pressure. Two years ago, it canceled its 12:35 a.m. “Late Late Show” program hosted by James Corden because it was losing money.
CBS came up with a lower-cost replacement with “After Midnight,” but that ended after two seasons as its host Taylor Tomlinson decided not to renew her deal. CBS is replacing it with a syndicated program, “Comics Unleashed,” from Byron Allen’s Entertainment Partners in an arrangement that will cost the network nothing.
Still, Paramount Global will find itself facing questions about why CBS did not seek ways to reduce the production costs of the program instead of just pulling the plug.
If CBS decides to continue programming the 11:30 p.m. slot, it will hard-pressed to approach the same audience levels that Colbert attracted.
CBS is giving up a popular culture touchstone, although in the current fragmented media landscape, the days of such hosts having massive sway over a large audience have passed.
Media analyst Rich Greenfield wrote that legacy media companies investing in expensive original programming outside of sports and news may be ill-advised as viewers continue to flock to streaming.
“Ending ‘The Late Show’ is the tip of the iceberg with massive programming and personnel cuts to come,” he said.
For decades, late-night TV served as the brand identity of the broadcast networks.
Jack Paar was the witty conversationalist that made Middle America feel like it was invited to a sophisticated Manhattan cocktail party. His successor, Johnny Carson, became a trendsetter in the 1960s, defining male coolness. He had his own clothing line. His dry monologue was often a gauge of the country’s political mood. An invitation to take a seat next to Carson after a stand-up set turbocharged the careers of many top comedians.
CBS was unable to compete with Carson for decades, trying and failing with the likes of Merv Griffin and Pat Sajak. When David Letterman became available after he was bypassed for the “Tonight” job at NBC, he came to CBS in 1993 and made the network a serious contender.
Letterman’s offbeat, sardonic brand of humor also gave a layer of hipness to CBS, which had long had a reputation for stodginess.
“Late Show With David Letterman” helped make late-night network TV a financial bonanza. While the proliferation of cable networks was cutting into audience share in the 1990s and early 2000s, the late-night habit still thrived, especially with its ability to reach young men, the most elusive demographic for TV advertisers.
As a result, late-night hosts became the highest-paid stars in the business. Letterman and Jay Leno were both earning in the neighborhood of $30 million a year until networks started trimming salaries 10 years ago.
But technology chipped away at the late-night talk show habit. When DVRs reached critical mass, consumers started to catch up with their favorite prime-time shows during the late-night hours.
The most painful blow came from social media. While online clips of the late-night shows draw hundreds of millions of viewing minutes, that doesn’t generate the same kind of ad revenue as TV. They also make showing up at 11:35 p.m. every night pointless.
“The networks cut up all of the best parts of the show, and by the end of the night you can see all of them on social media,” said one former network executive who oversaw late-night programs. “There’s no reason to even DVR it.”
Prime-time programs add millions of viewers through on-demand streaming after they air on the broadcast networks. Topical late-night shows don’t have the same shelf life.
While politics have long been an important element of late-night comedy, the emergence of Trump‘s political career in 2015 — and his ability to drive ratings and the national conversation — made him the dominant topic.
Where Carson, Letterman and Leno skewered both sides of the political spectrum, Trump’s ability to provide endless comedy fodder on a daily basis made him an easy, entertaining and ultimately one-sided target.
For years it worked. Ratings for Colbert — who made his bones on Comedy Central satirizing a reactionary talk show host — languished for the first two years after he replaced Letterman. Audience levels and ad rates surged in 2017 once Trump came into office and became Colbert’s muse.
But the country has become more politically polarized in recent years and the relentless lampooning of Trump has created a lane for “Gutfeld!,” a nightly Fox News talk show with a conservative bent.
While not technically a late-night show (it airs at 10 p.m. Eastern), “Gutfeld!” drew an average of 3 million viewers in the second quarter of 2025 according to Nielsen and has grown 20% since 2022.
The young men that used to make late night an advertiser magnet are now turning to podcasters such as Joe Rogan and others who can speak without the restraint of broadcast TV standards.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has been cancelled by CBS with the show’s final season set to air in May 2026. Fans hav been left devastated by the news with one saying “Stephen Colbert deserves better”
The network has now clarified the reasoning behind the decision(Image: CBS via Getty Images)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is set to bid farewell in May 2026.
Stephen became a household name hosting the satirical news programme The Colbert Report on Comedy Central from 2005 until 2014, before taking over from David Letterman as host of The Late Show on CBS, a subsidiary of Paramount Global.
CBS announced: “‘THE LATE SHOW with STEPHEN COLBERT’ will end its historic run in May 2026 at the end of the broadcast season. We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire the ‘THE LATE SHOW’ franchise at that time. We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late-night television.”
The network clarified the reasoning behind the decision, stating, “This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount,”
Colbert himself broke the news to his audience during Thursday’s show, revealing, “Before we start the show, I want to let you know something I found out just last night. Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending ‘The Late Show’ in May,” he disclosed.
Fans took to social media to express their dismay over the show’s cancellation, with reactions such as, “Stephen Colbert deserves better!””I’m absolutely not ready to NOT have Stephen Colbert on my TV at night,” and “CBS letting Stephen Colbert go is BS! Boycott CBS” dominating X, the platform previously known as Twitter.
Several viewers have suggested that the show’s cancellation might be linked to the network’s recent legal settlement with President Trump, given Stephen’s outspoken criticism of the President. Paramount Global is currently merging with Skydance Media, a move that requires the green light from the Federal Communications Commission, reports the Mirror US.
“Just days after Paramount announces it settles the lawsuit Trump brought against them, they announce they are cancelling Stephen Colbert. Can’t help but think the cancelling of Stephen Colbert’s show was part of the settlement that Paramount agreed to. It’s so obvious,” one viewer commented.
Another shared their discomfort: “I’m not going to pretend that Stephen Colbert is perfect or anything, but it really does not sit right with me that this news comes just after Paramount settled with Trump and in the midst of merging with Skydance Media. This just feels like textbook censorship, plain and simple.”
