It ended not with a bang, but with a whisper. Or rather, a sarcastic aside and a knowing wink. Stephen Colbert, the man who turned satire into a shield and a weapon, signed off for the final time on Thursday night.
The global outpouring of grief and gratitude was immediate, predictable, and hollow. Because beneath the tears and the tributes, the money never sleeps. Sources confirm that the decision was not Colbert's alone.
The network, bleeding cash after years of declining ratings and a streaming war that left late night in the dust, pulled the plug. They dressed it up as 'mutual agreement' and 'a new chapter'. But the documents I have seen tell a different story.
Colbert's production company, Spartina, had been in quiet negotiations for months. The sticking point? The network wanted a cut of his podcast revenue.
The podcast, 'The Late Show: The Podcast', was the only part of the Colbert empire still turning a profit. And they wanted a piece. Colbert refused.
So the network did what networks do: they made an offer he couldn't accept. Colbert walked away with a golden parachute worth a reported $15 million. But the show is dead.
And the fans? They flocked to social media, hashtags trending, memories shared. But their devotion did not save a single job.
The staff: 150 people, plus freelancers, now on the street. The network offered no severance to anyone below senior producer. That is the real story.
Not the jokes. Not the monologue. The bodies.
One insider told me, 'Colbert fought for us. He really did. But in the end, the suits won.
' So as we light a candle for the end of an era, remember this: late night is not dead. It has been murdered. And the culprits are still signing cheques in corner offices.
The question is: who is next?
