CBS is canceling “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” next May, shuttering a decades-old TV institution and removing from air one of President Donald Trump’s most prominent late night critics.

S tephen Colbert, the CBS late-night talk show host, was unequivocal in his assessment of Paramount Global’s $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump. “I believe this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles,” he said. “It’s a big fat bribe.”

In a shocking move, CBS is ending “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” next year, and apparently exiting the late-night television business altogether. The network, citing financial pressures,

The announcement came days after Colbert spoke out against the $16 million settlement paid by CBS News parent Paramount to settle a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump.

Colbert’s cancellation came days after he mocked Paramount, which owns CBS, for its $16 million settlement with Trump in a lawsuit many considered meritless. That settlement comes as Paramount attempts a merger with Skydance Media, which requires FCC approval to proceed.

Newsweek has reached out to representatives for Stewart and Colbert via email. The Context. Stewart and Colbert are stalwarts of the television world. Stewart is the long-running

Colbert followed “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart’s attack of the deal one week earlier. Stewart works for Comedy Central, also owned by Paramount, making the two comics the most visible internal critics of the $16 million settlement that was announced on July 1.

Stephen Colbert went off on his employer, Paramount, on Monday after the company decided to settle with President Trump in his lawsuit against the network.