‘Lying Weasels’: David Letterman Shreds CBS Bosses in Splashy NY Times Interview Ahead of Colbert’s Finale

David Letterman arrives at the JFK Library, Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Former The Late Show host David Letterman shredded CBS bosses in a splashy The New York Times interview ahead of Stephen Colbert‘s finale.

Colbert, who replaced Letterman as host of CBS’s The Late Show in September 2015, is set to host his final episode on May 21. CBS announced the show’s cancellation last summer, citing a “financial decision.”

In his new interview with The New York Times, Letterman slammed David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount Skydance for “willy-nilly spending” his father’s money. Last year, Skydance Media and Paramount Global completed an $8 billion merger, in which Ellison acquired CBS.

“Then I wondered: What the hell have they done to Stephen [Colbert]?” he told The New York Times. “And I would say farther down on the list is your point: Wait a minute, this used to be my show. It’s like driving by your old neighborhood and realizing that where you used to live, they’re putting up an adult bookstore.”

Letterman also cast doubt on CBS’s claims that the show was cancelled for financial reasons.

“TV may be not the money machine it once was,” he said. “On the other hand, what about the humanity for Stephen and the humanity of people who love him, and the humanity for people who still enjoyed that 11:30 respite? He was dumped because the people selling the network to Skydance said, ‘Oh no, there’s not going to be any trouble with that guy. We’re going to take care of the show. We’re just going to throw that into the deal. When will the ink on the check dry?’ I’m just going to go on record as saying: They’re lying. … They’re lying weasels.”

Media Mogul Byron Allen is set to take over the late-night time slot, and he will reportedly sell his own ads for his talk show, “Comics Unleashed.”

Letterman offered up praise for Allen while still dragging CBS and its parent company.

“He’s been wildly more successful than any hundred of us,” he Letterman said. “I periodically talk to him, and neither he nor I understand how he became a billionaire. God bless him. To hell with CBS. To hell with Skydance. To hell with the Winslow [Ellison] twins or whoever the hell these guys are. But Byron, he’ll still be providing comedy in that time period. I think that’s a valuable bit of resolution here.”

When asked if he had a favorite memory from his time as The Late Show host, Letterman seemed unable to find one.

“The band had barely quit playing and they dismantled the set and there were dumpsters on 53rd Street, and as I walked out of the building, I saw the detritus and the debris of my life at CBS being tossed into the dumpster,” he said. “Now, that’s not a pleasant memory. I don’t know, talk to somebody else.”

In a separate interview with The New York Times, Colbert similarly cast doubt on CBS’s purported reasoning for cancelling the show.

“I do not dispute their rationale. I do make jokes about it. But I also completely understand why people would say (A) that doesn’t make sense to me and (B) that seems fishy to me, because the network did it to themselves by bending the knee to the [Donald] Trump administration over a $20 billion, settled for $16 million, completely frivolous lawsuit,” Colbert said, referring to a $16 million settlement made by CBS with Trump over a lawsuit against 60 Minutes.

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