There is plenty of information that makes a case for President Trump’s direct involvement in CBS cancelling “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and while we may not know for sure, the timing of the cancellation of the top-rated broadcast late night talk show certainly points to Trump’s involvement.
Officially, CBS insists that it was strictly a financial decision. But it is likely that “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” had been losing money for a long time and this was not a new development. Why was the show not cancelled sooner?
It is not uncommon for networks to support shows that are not financially profitable if the shows somehow enhance the overall image of the network. The show hosted by Stephen Colbert may have been one of those shows that was a hallmark for CBS, even if the show was losing money. I also thought it was interesting that CBS appeared to have no appetite for cutting back on the massive staff or on Colbert’s massive salary in an effort to keep the show on the air. The cancellation announcement was quick and definite and occurred days after Colbert made a joke about CBS’s $16M settlement with President Trump and days before Trump’s FCC approved the mega merger between Paramount, the company that owns CBS and Skydance. The timing is definitely suspicious.
After the announcement of the cancellation, Trump celebrated and hinted that he had something to do with it. Trump said he was not solely responsible for the cancellation and the show was cancelled because Colbert has no talent. Yet, Colbert was #1 among the late-night talk shows on broadcast TV.
Colbert used Trump as a political pinata hitting him with hardcore jokes about his presidency and his actions. The comedic attacks on Trump were relentless, but Colbert had an audience, and in the free market milieu of television, the audience decides what is on TV and what stays on TV.
Trump directly threatened to use his FCC to stop the Paramount - Skydance merger. CBS gave Trump $16M to settle a lawsuit the network would have easily won according to countless legal experts. It was obvious that CBS capitulated and settled with Trump and I believe that in a side off-the-record deal that CBS cancelled Colbert’s show to appease President Trump and to silence one of Trump’s creative critics.
Donald Trump is very sensitive to criticism. It’s a wonder he decided to enter the political arena with such a sensitive and fragile state of mind. Trump also alluded to the idea that he had something to do with cancelling Colbert when he warned that Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon would be next.
So, if Donald Trump is so sensitive to the humor directed at him on broadcast TV, how will the president react to the much harsher humor from the new season of “South Park?”
Wednesday night, “South Park” airs the second episode in the new season with more mocking of Trump. In the opening episode, the creators had President Trump in bed with Satan and using AI generation, the show included the image of a gross overweight man stripping in the desert revealing his very tiny talking penis. Trump’s manhood was depicted as tiny throughout the debut episode of the new season.
In the second episode of the season, “South Park” creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, continue to present President Trump as Satan’s boyfriend. The two lovebirds will attend a banquet together and who knows what else. “South Park” will also build part of the episode around the violent approach ICE agents have taken in rounding up people to deport to reach daily quotas.
If Trump is so sensitive to factual criticism of his words and actions and if he did play a part in the cancellation of Colbert’s show because of the nightly barrage of jokes targeting Trump, then will President Trump find a way to go after “South Park?”
Paramount also owns Comedy Central, which airs “South Park.” But the deal with Skydance is done. What power would Trump have to use to try to shut down the irreverent animated comedy series? Trump can’t be happy with the depiction of his manhood or his relationship with Satan or the comedic attacks on the impact his administration is having on American society.
Humor is humor and humor is protected by the 1st Amendment. It’s easy to laugh at jokes about the people you don’t like and a challenge to laugh at the people you do like, but comedy is comedy and I can appreciate good comedy even if the target of the comedy is someone I like. I imagine that right-wing radicals would totally support laughing at jokes about “Sleepy Joe,” but become irate over jokes about Donald Trump. I think Americans have generally lost their appreciation for good comedy and “South Park” is good comedy, but I do understand that “South Park’s” style of humor is not for everyone.
We need to Make America Laugh Again (MALA). Even if the comedy targets Donald Trump - let’s learn to laugh the same way you would laugh if the jokes were targeting Joe Biden.
Trump is proud and he is also a bully. How can he celebrate the cancellation of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” but allow “South Park” to reign free over totally degrading mocking and joking about Donald and his words and actions? Stay tuned!
