Charlamagne Blasts CBS and Paramount Over 'Late Show' Cancellation: 'Textbook Authoritarian Rule'

On Friday's (July 18) installment of The Breakfast Club, Charlamagne ripped into CBS and its parent company, Paramount, for its unceremonious cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert after he criticized the company for settling a lawsuit with President Trump.

Charlamagne started his by dubbing Paramount and CBS as the "Donkey of the Day." He acknowledged the opportunities the company has provided him in the past, and that he'll make an appearance on The Daily Show next week, but he firmly believes that what Paramount did to Colbert and The Late Show crew was "wrong." He noted that the cancellation came just three days after Colbert criticized the settlement Paramount came to with Trump, who filed a $16 million lawsuit against the company for allegedly falsely editing an interview with Kamala Harris.

"Purely a financial decision, huh? Dear Paramount, lying about Colbert sounds like people in the Trump administration lying about why they wouldn't release the Epstein files," he said. "It's so obvious that Paramount is doing this to appease Donald Trump. ... Paramount needs to appease Trump so this merger with Skydance and Paramount can happen. Paramount paid Trump $16 million for essentially no reason."

He said that CBS released full transcripts in the interest of transparency, so it's confusing to him why they would choose to settle, making it seem like they're doing so to keep the FCC off their backs for the potential merger with Skydance.

"If you don't think we are under a regime with an authoritarian strategy, then you are bugging," he continued. "This is textbook authoritarian rule. Target your critics, centralize power in a few hands, intimidate through punishment or removal. And you know what that usually does? Shuts people the f up, okay? Tightens control over public discourse. Sends a message to all media outlets that criticism of Trump could cost you access, approval, editorial control, or your job. This is what authoritarian regimes do. They weaponize legal systems to punish dissent and control messaging."

He also questioned why Republicans have prided themselves on free speech when they've repeatedly tried to shut down criticism. He also expressed fear for the future of Jon Stewart at The Daily Show, something Stewart himself has voiced following Colbert's cancellation, and said it's clear that the settlement was "hush money" or "extortion."

"It becomes a warning," he said. "‘Make America North Korea. ‘Make America China. ‘Make America Russia.' That's where we are if we live in a country where there is strategic silence within corporate or media power structures to limit dissent. Okay, when that happens—well, it's already happened! We are fully under authoritarian rule. This is not just a media story. It's a free speech funeral in slow motion."

Trump, on Truth Social, expressed delight when the news of Colbert's firing broke. "I absolutely love that Colbert' got fired," he wrote. "His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert! Greg Gutfeld is better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show."