The entertainment industry was stunned when CBS announced in July that the liberal-leaning "Late Show with Stephen Colbert" would end in 2026.

The decision to end The Late Show, which Colbert announced during a July taping, was described as "purely a financial decision" by CBS at the time. But the news came just days after Colbert called Paramount's settlement and $16 million donation to President Donald Trump 's future presidential library a " big, fat bribe ."

Donald Trump’s primetime address to the nation interrupted the season finale of Survivor on December 17. Hours later on The Late Show, Stephen Colbert joked that listening to Trump talk was like the final challenge for the Survivor contestants.

Now, with just weeks left to go before the new year, The Late Show is running out of time. In the wake of the cancellation news over the summer, Stephen Colbert joked about being "available in June" for offers from Netflix and Amazon, but later said that he wanted to focus on getting to savor every day that was left on CBS and "land the plane."

Stephen Colbert topped Donald Trump in ratings as the Kennedy Center Honors hit a record low with 2.65M viewers.

During Slate's Political Gabfest event on Thursday, Dec. 18, the Late Show host, 61, is seen making a strong statement as he celebrated fellow CBS employee John Dickerson, whose last day at CBS News was yesterday.