Cancel culture

[Emelee]

Wasn't Trump a champion for speaking your mind and not getting cancelled for it?

He is no doubt the reason why The Late Show with Stephen Colbert got cancelled by CBS. He pretty much bragged about it and said that Jimmy Kimmel is next.

People that spoke their mind on TV are being targeted by a sitting President in a so called "democracy". It screams of cancel culture. Trump will target everyone that speaks ill of him in true dictator style.

What else on TV will get cancelled because of political pressure? Will it come to a point that showrunners, directors, writers and even actors are no longer hired because of their political views?

 

[KayLloyd]

Golly gee, audiences tiring of a smug overpaid comedian using their platform to mock anyone who dares to think freely and independently of the Marxist left couldn't possibly be the reason why a network would make a multi-million dollar decision. Nah, that just couldn't be it

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Golly gee, audiences tiring of a smug overpaid comedian using their platform to mock anyone who dares to think freely and independently of the Marxist left couldn't possibly be the reason why a network would make a multi-million dollar decision. Nah, that just couldn't be it

Not to mention that the show reportedly lost $40 million. Losing that much will get any show canceled
If this show was the highest rated late night show, then maybe the late night format is no longer profitable for any network,
especially when it requires so many people to work on it, as per the linked article,
The ratings may be unimportant, if the economics of the industry have changed

CBS Reportedly Lost $40 Million on Colbert's Late Show This Year - LateNighter

Sources inside CBS have suddenly become much more forthcoming about the economics of late-night television—go figure!— revealing that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has recently been running at an annual shortfall of $40 million.

latenighter.com

 

[Emelee]

And is it any coincidence that this happened just 2 days after Colbert spoke out about CBS/Paramount paid Trump 16 million to settle Trump's tantrum lawsuit? CBS/Paramount caved to pressure.

Even if Colbert was a communist, he has a right to speak his mind in a democracy. In the land of the free... yeah right.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

It's both. Budget and politics.

Everyone understands Colbert was cut, the timing unsubtle, due to the CBS/Paramount lawsuit.

But all the late night shows are in serious trouble -- because the mainstream media is dying and these shows are becoming too expensive to maintain, given the dwindling audience it pulls in.

Both sides want to censor. Utterly.

I used to watch Colbert in 2015 after he took over LATE SHOW from David Letterman. And I kind of liked him at first. But over the next three or so years, the bias (as opposed to perspective) in the jokes began to irritate me.. I was rabidly anti-Trump -- and still am -- but the subjectivity, selectivity and manipulation just became increasingly impossible to ignore.

Even more fascinating, when I would watch Colbert's nightly monologue, and then switch over to NBC's Seth Meyer's monologue an hour later, I found Meyer's monologue didn't simply include jokes about the same events of the day -- or the same "leftist" takes on the events of the day -- but the same jokes, worded exactly the same way.

And since both shows are taped in the late afternoon, one show's writers couldn't very well be just brazenly stealing from the other.

I know some jokes write themselves, but this was a bit much. And downright creepy.

That, and Colbert later trying to desperately shut up his buddy Jon Stewart from saying that Covid may have come from a lab, kind of did it for me: this is State TV and I was done with it.

Should CBS/Paramount have caved to pressure from Trump and canceled Colbert's show?

Yes and No... It sets a bad precedent, surely, allowing political strong-arm tactics to control the material (as happened 56 years ago when CBS cancelled their Top 10 hit THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS over the duo's jokes criticizing our war in Vietnam, which angered newly-minted Nixon's White House) but Trump's legal action was not "a tantrum lawsuit" -- 60 MINUTES altered the answers from an interview with Kamala Harris -- during an election year -- to make her look better (among other things) which is an ethical and, apparently, a legal violation.

I detest Trump. But he was right in this case (if only by accident).

But the audience-at-large is more savvy than it once was, and now understands that the mainstream media has a naked ideological agenda -- be it Left-ish or Right -- which is why the ratings have cratered over the last few years. And the more that mainstream media sinks, the angry propaganda bias becomes even more extreme. Like the band on the deck of the Titanic, playing louder and louder, as the ship goes under.

Kimmel is on the chopping block, too. The ratings are just gone.

It's not hyperbole to say they're all garbage. And the public has figured it out:

 

[Angela Channing]

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is the highest rated US late night chat show, with almost 50% more viewers than Jimmy Kimmel Live! and double the audience for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon so it's hard not to assume that the decision has more to do with politics than to the popularity of the show itself.

The $40 million loss that CBS leaked looks very much like a face saving cover to justify cancelling the show.

 

[Daniel Avery]

To say it was "the highest rated late night network talk show" is faint praise when the ratings of all these shows have been deteriorating for years. When you decide to regularly insult and demonize 50% of your potential audience that sort of thing happens. For some reason he and the other hosts thought pissing off/writing off that segment of the public would not impact their viewing figures. Then they decided that staging a talk show with one joke told over and over with no variety or subtlety would be must-see TV....and it wasn't. Good comedy is the unexpected twist, the observation of an event in a clever way that no one else expresses. When the host (and all the other hosts) keeps saying the same stuff over and over it loses its originality.

But most importantly, when an employee criticizes his employer for ANY reason in such a public way, he/she ought to expect to get fired. Trump or no Trump, Colbert should have remembered the Golden Rule of Hollywood: He who has the gold, rules. How many times have we seen actors get sacked by producers after the actor criticized the project they were working on? If he had decided to air his grievances on social media or even on other outlets most everyone would have just shrugged it off. Going on CBS's airwaves to criticize CBS was just a bridge too far. if he had been pulling Johnny Carson-level ratings at the time I think CBS might have taken a moment to consider the impact.....but since the show was a major money-drain anyway, I can see why they decided to pull the plug.

 

[bmasters9]

But the audience-at-large is more savvy than it once was, and now understands that the mainstream media has a naked ideological agenda -- be it Left-ish or Right -- which is why the ratings have cratered over the last few years. And the more that mainstream media sinks, the angry propaganda bias becomes even more extreme. Like the band on the deck of the Titanic, playing louder and louder, as the ship goes under.

That's quite true-- as bad as the left-sided ones are, FOX "News" is by no means innocent, especially with that utterly unfunny (at least it seems) Gutfeld! show, which (as I understand it) is a far more extreme version of The Five.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

That's quite true-- as bad as the left-sided ones are, FOX "News" is by no means innocent, especially with that utterly unfunny (at least it seems) Gutfeld! show, which (as I understand it) is a far more extreme version of The Five.

I've heard about Gutfield, but I've never seen it.

 

[bmasters9]

I've heard about Gutfield, but I've never seen it.

Here's a clip-- judge for yourself:

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Here's a clip-- judge for yourself:

Ugh. Yeah. The wit... the wit.

 

[Frank Underwood]

It's not just Colbert that's going away; it's the entire Late Show franchise. If this was only about appeasing Trump, wouldn't they keep the show going with a new host?

I think all of the current late night talk show hosts are hacks, but I believe in their right to free speech. That said, they're also employees of major corporate outlets. Their jobs are contingent on their profitability and their ability to tow the company line. If either of these things begin to falter (as was the case with Colbert,) then their employment can easily be terminated. Colbert is still free to say whatever he wants, but CBS isn't obliged to give him a platform to do so. He was paid handsomely to spew their talking points, hence why he lost all objectivity after his time on The Colbert Report. Colbert criticized his bosses on their own network for settling with Trump, even though they deceptively edited a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. That, combined with the monetary loss they've incurred, is likely why both Colbert and the Late Show itself are going away.

It's sad to think that his legacy is that of a shill for the establishment and big pharma.

 

[Frank Underwood]

That's quite true-- as bad as the left-sided ones are, FOX "News" is by no means innocent, especially with that utterly unfunny (at least it seems) Gutfeld! show, which (as I understand it) is a far more extreme version of The Five.

Yes, corporate "comedy" breeds team mentality hacks. For what it's worth, though, Gutfeld averages 3 million viewers compared to Colbert's 1.9 million.

You can find hacks and grifters in independent media as well, but in general, I find most of the people in that sphere to be much more objective.

As far as straight political satire goes, I think Kyle Dunnigan is one of the best at it. He skewers everybody, and in a way that I don't find hacky.

 

[bmasters9]

Yes, corporate "comedy" breeds team mentality hacks (although Gutfeld averages 3 million viewers compared to Colbert's 1.9 million.)

You can find hacks and grifters in independent media as well, but in general, I find most of the people in that sphere to be much more objective.

As far as straight political satire goes, I think Kyle Dunnigan is one of the best at it. He skewers everybody, and in a way that I don't find hacky.

So he's more in the middle compared to Gutfeld on Fox and Colbert on CBS, I take it.

 

[Frank Underwood]

So he's more in the middle compared to Gutfeld on Fox and Colbert on CBS, I take it.

Yes. His "Fresh Prez" series on YouTube highlights the type of political satire he does.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

It is important to note that Paramount, Skydance and divisions of CBS are private sector companies.
They are in business to make profits.
They can hire or fire for any number of reasons, as long as they are in compliance with the laws.
Employees of such companies can indeed be fired for their speech, if the companies deem such speech
to be detrimental to their entities.

The First Amendment places limits on CONGRESS, not the private sector.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances"

Interpretations of the First Amendment are ongoing, but it remains consistent that people can certainly express their views, but they are also subject to the actions that result from such speech.

IE An Entertainer's speech is not restricted by Congress, but if it is an issue for his employer (who also have the same First Amendment rights),
he or she can be removed from their position, in accordance with the laws.

Employees of all private companies are subject to the same standard.

First Amendment | Contents, Freedoms, Rights, & Facts | Britannica

First Amendment, amendment (1791) to the Constitution of the United States that is part of the Bill of Rights. It protects freedom of worship, of speech, and of the press and the right to assembly and to petition. Learn more about the First Amendment, including a discussion of the various clauses.

www.britannica.com

 

[Seaviewer]

I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with a commentator having a point of view; they don't have to pretend to be unbiased if they're not, especially when they're primarily an entertainer rather than a reporter. We have whole media organisations now openly pandering to the left or right. What made Colbert so different?

 

[Frank Underwood]

I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with a commentator having a point of view; they don't have to pretend to be unbiased if they're not, especially when they're primarily an entertainer rather than a reporter. We have whole media organisations now openly pandering to the left or right. What made Colbert so different?

Well, "their" point of view isn't necessarily their own. Colbert's perspective became far more establishment-centric once he took over for David Letterman.

As for what makes Colbert different, it's the fact that he criticized his employer on their own network. That was on top of his show losing $40 million dollars.

 

[Seaviewer]

As for what makes Colbert different, it's the fact that he criticized his employer on their own network.

Some might have applauded the show of independence, but it is what it is.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I think he went too "wall-to-wall" on his point of view....to a point that it became tiresome even to many who agreed with him overall. All of his guests seemed to be anti-Trump people who were invited on just so they could agree with one another and perpetuate the echo-chamber. it became tedious and too "one-subject" for what was supposed to be a variety show. It's reminiscent of that cranky old uncle who sits in the living room and only complains about the neighbors all day. After a while you avoid him because you've heard it all before.