FCC Chairman Brendan Carr ripped comedian Stephen Colbert after his late-night show was abruptly canceled, claiming that the veteran TV host “clearly doesn’t have ‘it’ anymore.”
The head of the Federal Communications Commission is currently weighing a long-awaited deal between Skydance and CBS owner Paramount, which axed “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and blamed it on purely “financial reasons.”
Oliver Darcy, the reporter behind the Status newsletter, said he texted Carr about rumors that he will approve the merger this Friday and received a late response from the chairman: “Sorry. Missed your message. I was too emotional over the whole Colbert thing.”
When asked whether Colbert telling President Trump to “go f–k yourself” during his show threatened the future of the deal, Carr reportedly replied: “lol, no.”
“I think it’s just sad. Colbert clearly doesn’t have ‘it’ anymore – if he ever did. I don’t know if it’s from TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) or something else,” Carr told Darcy.
“He’s paid millions of dollars to be funny and entertaining, and he’s just not able to make it work. He’s gotta feel bad about how the end is playing out.”
CBS nodded to “a challenging backdrop in late night,” but there’s been speculation that the end of Colbert’s “Late Show” was part of the network’s recent $16 million settlement with Trump over a heavily-edited “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris.
There had been concerns that not settling Trump’s lawsuit could halt the Skydance merger.
Trump said Tuesday that he expects to receive a total of $36 million, including an additional $20 million from Skydance once it takes control of Paramount, confirming an exclusive report by The Post.
Skydance did not immediately respond to requests seeking confirmation of this figure.
Celebrities and late-night hosts, including Jon Stewart, were quick to accuse CBS executives of capitulating to political pressure from Trump.
“The partisan left’s ritualist wailing and gnashing of teeth over Colbert is quite revealing,” Carr wrote in a post on X Tuesday.
“They’re acting like they’re losing a loyal DNC spokesperson that was entitled to an exemption from the laws of economics.”
Paramount and CBS News did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
News of the cancellation seems to have boosted Colbert’s appeal for the time being, as last Thursday’s episode drew 3.08 million viewers – making it the show’s most-watched so far this year, according to LateNighter, a news site covering late-night television.
