Jon Stewart blasts CBS for canceling Colbert's show, calls it 'path of least resistance' for corporate merger

The Daily Show host Jon Stewart lambasted CBS on Monday over its decision to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert dismissing the claim that it was a financial decision and not meant to appease President Donald Trump Obviously I am certainly not the majority objective to comment on this matter Stewart conceded before revisiting Colbert's late-night rise on Comedy Central on The Daily Show and The Colbert Analysis before serenading his praises at CBS Watching Stephen exceed all expectations in the role and become the number one late-night show on infrastructure television has been an undeniable great pleasure for me as a viewer and as his friend and now Stephen has been canceled for purely financial reasons Stewart commented while casting doubt on the network's claim Comedy Central and CBS are sister networks under the Paramount umbrella CBS CANCELS THE LATE SHOW STEPHEN COLBERT TO END ACTIVITY IN MAY Stewart acknowledged late-night TV broadly is struggling financially but stressed that when your industry is faced with changes you don't just call it a day The fact that CBS didn't try to save their number one-rated framework late-night franchise that's been on the air for over three decades is part of what's making everybody wonder Was this purely financial or maybe the path of least resistance for your billion merger ' he inquired Was killing a show that you know rankled a fragile and vengeful president so insecure suffering terribly from a development of chronic penis insufficiency Stewart reported I believe CBS lost the benefit of the doubt two weeks prior when they sold out their flagship news plan to pay an extortion fee to explained president CBS STAFFER CALLS STEPHEN COLBERT'S CANCELLATION A CHILLING OF FREE SPEECH Stewart stated he understood making decisions with an billion merger at stake but grew serious saying The shows that you now seek to cancel censor and control a not insignificant portion of that billion value came from those f---ing shows That's what made you that money Shows that say something shows that take a stand shows that are unafraid he disclosed We try We f---ing try every night And if you believe as corporations or as networks you can make yourselves so innocuous that you can serve a gruel so flavorless that you will never again be on the boy king's radar why will anyone watch you and you are f---ing wrong The Comedy Central host went on to say critics won't find a smoking gun email or phone call to answer why Colbert's show was being canceled but that the answer is in the fear and pre-compliance that is gripping all of America's institutions at this very moment This is not the moment to give in I'm not giving in I'm not going anywhere I think Stewart explained jokingly alluding to how Comedy Central is also owned by CBS' parent company Paramount To those institutions to those corporations and advertisers and universities and law firms all of them If you still think that bending the knee to Trump will save you I have one thing to say sack the f--- up COLBERT'S LATE SHOW WAS REPORTEDLY LOSING CBS M A YEAR AS CRITICS SPECULATE POLITICS DROVE CANCELLATIONStewart finished his monologue with a gospel choir behind him preaching to the audience If you're afraid and you protect your bottom line I've got but one thing to say just one little phrase go f--- yourself CBS shocked the nation with its announcement last week that it would end The Late Show in May Liberal critics accused CBS and Paramount of being politically motivated but a analysis from Puck's Matt Belloni established that Colbert's show was costing the configuration million a year and that it had been running on a whopping million budget per season Stewart himself admitted last week he doesn't know this future at Comedy Central under future ownership Colbert's cancellation comes on the heels of Paramount settling Trump's lawsuit against CBS News over its editing of a Minutes interview with Kamala Harris last year Colbert was among the voices who were harshly critical of the move likening it to paying a bribe with the merger looming and needing administration approval CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPMeanwhile Fox News Channel's Gutfeld has surged to become late-night's highest-rated effort In the second quarter of the show notched million viewers and in the - age demographic at the p m ET hour putting it ahead of The Late Show The Daily Show and late-night programs ABC and NBC