David Letterman let his past comments on CBS speak for him after The Late Show was canceled by the network. On Monday, the late-night icon shared a 20-minute montage of different moments of himself speaking against the company and its actions while he was host of the network’s evening talk show.
“You can’t spell CBS without BS,” he captioned the YouTube video, which was titled “CBS: The Tiffany Network.”
The 20-minute video featured clips from 1994, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2007, 2012, 2011, and 2013 during episodes when he hosted the show. One 1994 clip called out the network for removing the NFL from its airwaves, sharing fake slogans for the network: “Could be sold,” “CBS, Now on Fox,” and “More powerful than the Weather Channel!” were among them.
In another quip from 2003, Letterman joked that CBS had not made it clear that the Late Show had been on air for so long. “They don’t know and they don’t care … I don’t want to get in trouble here but I’m gonna call the CBS switchboard and see if they know how long we’ve been on air,” said Letterman. “Maybe I’m overreacting.”
One clip captured Letterman holding up a copy of USA Today with a CBS ad that promoted NCIS, The Unit, and Cane, but failed to mention his show. He quipped, “If you look way, way down here,” pointing to a tiny note about The Late Show‘s guests for that evening.
The Letterman video comes just four days after CBS announced that it will end The Late Show for supposed financial issues at the network, as it thanked Stephen Colbert, the show’s host, for his years helming the program. “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,” the network wrote in its announcement.
However, the decision to cut Colbert drew stark criticism by many, since the announcement came days after Colbert criticized the parent company of the network’s decision to agree to a settlement with Trump.
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Elizabeth Warren questioned the motives behind CBS’ decision. “A deal that looks like bribery,” the senator wrote on X. “America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.” Adam Schiff also claimed the move may have been political. “Just finished taping with Stephen Colbert who announced his show was cancelled,” Schiff tweeted. “If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.”
From Rolling Stone US
