In an effort to cast Stephen Colbert as a martyr for free speech ahead of the imminent cancellation of The Late Show, NBC’s Sunday Today sought to cast the owner of CBS’s parent company as "a prominent Trump supporter.” Except that this isn’t true.
Watch as NBC entertainment correspondent Chloe Melas suggests that CBS is owned by MAGA, casts doubts on the financial rationale behind the cancellation of The Late Show, and then brings on a media critic to bolster her point of view:
Fact Check: False. @ChloeMelas on #SundayToday @TodayShow: “CBS was recently acquired by Skydance Media, whose owner, David Ellison, is a prominent Trump supporter.” Reality: In 2024 Ellison donated $929,000 to the Biden Victory Fund. Per https://t.co/LLxw1n8uWm: “David Ellison’s… pic.twitter.com/gka7P0T0fZ
— Brent Baker 🇺🇲🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@BrentHBaker) May 17, 2026
CHLOE MELAS: CBS was recently acquired by Skydance Media, whose owner David Ellison is a prominent Trump supporter. CBS called the cancellation a purely financial decision and not related in any way to the show's performance. But that statement doesn't ring true to everyone. Brian Lowry is a media veteran reporter.
BRIAN LOWRY: There was a sense the studio was eager to curry favor with the Trump administration.
The idea of Ellison as “prominent Trump supporter” makes for good narrative ahead of Colbert’s cancellation. But it simply isn’t true. As our own Brent Baker noted, in 2024 Ellison donated $929,000 to the Biden Victory Fund. AS CNBC noted, this was “the largest recorded contribution that the Skydance Media CEO ever made to a federal candidate.” Not very MAGA. Also, not very accurate.
The Ellison MAGA rebrand is an important element in the ongoing canonization of late-night comics to Resistance™ sainthood. In Colbert’s particular case this narrative is useful inasmuch as it helps brush off the financial reality of the show as a key element of its cancellation.
The rest of the segment is as syrupy as expected- an in vivo eulogy of Colbert, the free speech martyr cast down by the evil Trump. There is, of course, no mention of the broader political degeneration of our broader culture- including comedy. Viewers now get all of the politics with very little comedy.
Today is just the beginning. Expect more of the same, building to a vomitous crescendo ahead of Colbert’s CBS finale.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on NBC’s Sunday Today on May 17th, 2026:
WILLIE GEIST: On Thursday night, Stephen Colbert will host his final Late Show on CBS. He got the job 11 years ago, after the legendary David Letterman retired from the world of late-night comedy he helped to create. CBS cited financial losses in announcing the end of Colbert’s run. But last summer’s decision came as the network's parent company Paramount was working to close a merger that required approval from the Trump administration, a nightly target of Colbert. That deal was approved one week after Colbert's show was canceled. NBC News entertainment correspondent Chloe Melas has more in our Sunday Focus.
CHLOE MELAS: Last year, Steven Colbert delivered a monologue that certainly wasn't funny. The host of the top-rated show on late night TV announcing his Late Show was being canceled.
STEPHEN COLBERT: It's not just the end of our show but it's the end of the Late Show on CBS. I'm not being replaced. This is all just going away.
MELAS: Colbert has been a frequent critic through the years of President Trump.
COLBERT: But who better to gamble with our economy than somebody who bankrupted his own casino?
MELAS: CBS was recently acquired by Skydance Media, whose owner David Ellison is a prominent Trump supporter. CBS called the cancellation a purely financial decision and not related in any way to the show's performance. But that statement doesn't ring true to everyone. Brian Lowry is a media veteran reporter.
BRIAN LOWRY: There was a sense the studio was eager to curry favor with the Trump administration.
MELAS: Colbert isn't the only late-night TV host who has drawn the wrath of President Trump. ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel was briefly taken off the air last year following his commentary on Charlie Kirk's killing. He apologized after his return.
JIMMY KIMMEL: It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.
MELAS: The President and First Lady called for Kimmel to be fired, after he made a joke about the couple's age difference, saying Melania looks like a, quote, “expectant widow”, a couple of days before a gunman tried to breach the White House Correspondents' Dinner. This week, Kimmel joining Seth Meyers, John Oliver and Jimmy Fallon, the biggest names in late night, to support their friend.
COLBERT: Is there anything we have not touched on before we move on to this -- I’m curious…
KIMMEL: Are you outraged that your show is being thrown off the air?
MELAS: Original host David Letterman also stopping by melancholy with words of wisdom.
DAVID LETTERMAN: You can take a man's show. You can't take a man's voice. So that's the good news you need.
MELAS: The two also recreating an old Letterman bit: throwing things off the roof.
LETTERMAN: How many hours have you (and you ass) spent in that chair?
COLBERT: Oh, uh- 1,810 shows.
LETTERMAN: Here we go.
COLBERT: Here we go.
LETTERMAN: All right. Let's give it a go.
COLBERT: One, two, three.
MELAS: Colbert sat down with Willie back in 2024.
GEIST: So where does the comedy come in for you?
COLBERT: I'm the youngest of 11. And, you know, comedy was -- it was, like, a homocracy. Whoever the funniest person in the room at the moment was was the king.
MELAS: So what's next for Colbert? Earlier this month, President Obama had some thoughts.
COLBERT: I'm looking for a new gig soon. A lot of people tell me I should run for president.
BARACK OBAMA: Well, you have the look.
COLBERT: Thank you very much.
OBAMA: You have the hair.
MELAS: And in a final show of solidarity, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon will go dark on Thursday, airing reruns on The Late Show’s final night on the air.
COLBERT: You guys have been wonderful friends and great models for me, and I’m so glad to know and love all of you. Thank you so much for being here.
GEIST: And Chloe joins me now live. Chloe, good morning. Great to see you. My sources tell me you are a former Colbert intern. Bringing a little extra insight to this one. So with only four nights left for Stephen, what comes next for Colbert and for his time slot?
MELAS: Willie, well, your sources- they are correct. I indeed interned for Stephen back in 2008 during the Colbert Report days at Comedy Central. And a lot of that staff followed Stephen to The Late Show. As for what happens next, CBS announced that Byron Allen's Comics Unleashed will take over under a one-year agreement, and the financial structure is unique. CBS leasing the hour while Allen takes on the cost of producing the show in return for the ad revenue. Colbert’s final week will feature the worst of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday. Tuesday brings Jon Stewart and Steven Spielberg, plus a performance with David Byrne. Wednesday night, the one and only Bruce Springsteen takes the stage. But no word yet on what’s planned for Thursday's final show. Though if history is any guide, expect some surprises and a few emotional good-byes. Willie.
GEIST: We will be watching this week. Chloe, thanks so much. We appreciate it.
