Andy Cohen on Colbert cancellation: 'CBS is just cooked'

Andy Cohen says CBS's cancelation of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" shows that the network is "cooked."

"They are saying, 'We're done,'" Cohen, who hosts and executive produces his own late-night program, "Watch What Happens Live," on Bravo, said of CBS on his SiriusXM Radio Andy show on Monday.

"They're turning the lights out completely at 11:30, which says to me, it's like, CBS is just cooked," Cohen said.

Cohen's comments came days after CBS said in a shock announcement that it was pulling the plug on "The Late Show" in what it called a "purely financial decision." 

"It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount,” CBS said about the move, 

The cancelation of the show headlined by Colbert — a frequent critic of President Trump — came weeks after Paramount Global, CBS's parent company, agreed to settle a high-profile lawsuit for a reported $16 million brought by President Trump over a "60 Minutes" interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris.

The announcement that CBS was ending "The Late Show" in May 2026 also came amid an effort by Paramount to secure a multi-billion-dollar merger with fellow entertainment giant Skydance, in a transaction that will need approval from Trump’s government regulators.  

On his radio show, Cohen criticized CBS for outright canceling Colbert's show, one of late-night TV's ratings winners.

"They say that 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is losing $40 million a year," Cohen said of CBS, before listing a number of potential cost-saving moves the network could make.

"We could cut the budget in half. Maybe move out of the Ed Sullivan Theater — do the show in a small studio that we already own, because CBS has a lot of studio space," Cohen said, imitating network executives.

"Cut down on staff: You have 200 people working here. We need it to be 100 people, or 60," Cohen said CBS could tell Colbert.

"Instead of you doing your show five days a week, we're going to do your show four days a week, and you're going to pre-tape your Thursday show," Cohen, 57, continued. 

"That's the way right there to cut the budget at least in half," he added, "as opposed to saying, out of nowhere as [Colbert] portrayed it, they called them in and said, 'Your show's losing money. We're canceling it.'"