David Letterman let his work talk for him after CBS announced its decision to end the “Late Show.”
Current “Late” host Stephen Colbert announced the end of the talk show institution last week, seeming entirely caught by surprise. Letterman helmed the series from 1993 until his retirement in 2015. He responded to the news on Monday, sharing a 20-minute supercut of bits taking potshots at the Tiffany Network.
“You can’t spell CBS without B.S.,” he shared in the caption.
Letterman’s fellow travelers of late-night have criticized the decision to wrap the series next May. Several of Colbert’s current rivals shared their shock after the announcement. NBC talk show host Jimmy Fallon called Colbert “one of the sharpest, funniest hosts to ever do it.” John Oliver, the host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” called the news “incredibly sad.” No one was as direct as Jimmy Kimmel, who hosts ABC’s late night offering.
“F**k you and all your Sheldons, CBS,” Kimmel wrote on Instagram.
Other critics suggested that Colbert’s firing was politically motivated. CBS parent network Paramount settled a lawsuit out of court with President Donald Trump. The settlement comes as Paramount is seeking a massive merger.with Skydance Media. Colbert called the settlement “a big, fat bribe” on air just days before recieving the cancellation news.
“As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I am offended,” he said. “And I don’t know if anything will ever repair my trust in this company — but just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would help.”
Letterman had a famously tense relationship with the C-suite of CBS. He sparred with Les Moonves from the moment the former CEO took the top position at the network and Moonves admitted that Letterman “hated” him.
“He hated me when I walked in the door [at CBS]. He was there about a year before I got there. He just, generally speaking, didn’t like management,” Moonves told Vanity Fair in 2016, before sharing that Letterman mocked him on-air for six months after an early confrontation.
Moonves resigned three years after Letterman, following multiple allegations of sexual harassment.
Watch Letterman’s burn book-cum-clip show below:
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