All of this is going to end, Colbert said. Then it did.
No dia seguinte ao encerramento de um dos programas de comédia mais críticos da era Trump, o presidente americano publicou um vídeo gerado por inteligência artificial em que aparece jogando Stephen Colbert em uma lixeira. O gesto digital, pequeno em forma mas carregado de simbolismo, chega num momento em que a linha entre poder político e entretenimento midiático nunca pareceu tão tênue. A CBS nega pressões externas, mas a sequência de eventos convida a uma pergunta antiga: quando o poder e a sátira se encontram, quem realmente decide o que termina?
- Trump publicou um vídeo de IA mostrando-o descartando Colbert em uma lixeira — horas após o último episódio do The Late Show ir ao ar.
- O programa durou 11 anos e tornou Colbert um dos críticos mais visíveis do presidente, o que fez do seu fim algo impossível de descontextualizar politicamente.
- A CBS insiste que a decisão foi puramente financeira, mas a cronologia — ataques públicos de Trump, cancelamento abrupto, vídeo de escárnio — alimenta uma narrativa difícil de ignorar.
- Colbert havia chamado um pagamento de US$ 16 milhões da Paramount a Trump de 'suborno', e em julho de 2025 já havia anunciado ao público que a temporada seria a última.
- O uso de conteúdo gerado por IA como ferramenta de humilhação pública por um chefe de Estado marca uma nova fronteira nas tensões entre figuras políticas e a mídia.
Na sexta-feira, 22 de maio de 2026, Donald Trump publicou no Truth Social um vídeo gerado por inteligência artificial em que aparece jogando Stephen Colbert em uma lixeira. O vídeo chegou no dia seguinte ao último episódio do The Late Show, encerrando uma trajetória de 11 anos que havia transformado Colbert em um dos críticos mais contundentes do presidente republicano.
Colbert assumiu o programa em 2015, sucedendo David Letterman. A CBS justificou o cancelamento com dificuldades financeiras no horário das 23h30 — um espaço historicamente dominado pela comédia satírica americana. Mas a sequência de eventos era difícil de ignorar: Trump havia atacado Colbert publicamente por meses, e no dia anterior ao último episódio já havia declarado no Truth Social que a demissão do comediante marcava 'o começo do fim' para apresentadores 'sem talento e desagradáveis'.
Colbert, por sua vez, havia chamado de 'suborno' um pagamento de US$ 16 milhões que a Paramount fez a Trump para encerrar uma disputa judicial. Em julho de 2025, ele próprio anunciou ao público que aquela seria sua última temporada. 'Não serei substituído', disse. 'Tudo isso vai acabar.' A CBS, ao confirmar o cancelamento, chamou Colbert de 'insubstituível' — uma justificativa curiosa para encerrar o programa sem buscar um sucessor.
O episódio final teve Paul McCartney como convidado, que tocou 'Hello, Goodbye' ao lado do apresentador. Foi uma despedida com alguma dignidade. Mas o vídeo de IA que se seguiu deixou uma mensagem sem ambiguidade: independentemente das razões oficiais, a imagem escolhida pelo presidente foi a de um crítico sendo descartado.
On Friday, May 22nd, 2026, Donald Trump posted a video to Truth Social that showed him throwing Stephen Colbert into a garbage bin. The video was generated by artificial intelligence. It arrived the day after Colbert's final episode of The Late Show aired on CBS, marking the end of an 11-year run that had made the comedian one of the most visible critics of the Republican president.
Colbert had hosted the program since 2015, when he took over from David Letterman, who had anchored the slot since its debut in 1993. The show's cancellation came after CBS announced it would be shuttering the entire Late Show franchise. The network attributed the decision to financial pressures in what it described as a challenging environment for late-night programming at the 11:30 p.m. time slot—a space traditionally dominated by satirical comedy on American television.
But the timing raised questions. Trump had been openly hostile toward Colbert for months, and the day before the final episode aired, Trump had already taken to Truth Social to declare that Colbert's dismissal marked "the beginning of the end" for untalented late-night hosts. He called the comedian "unfunny and unpleasant." The AI video, which followed within hours of the show's conclusion, seemed to extend that mockery into a new register—one where the president could literally depict his critic being discarded.
Colbert himself had not minced words about Trump. He had characterized a $16 million payment that Paramount, the network's parent company, made to Trump to settle a legal dispute as "bribery." In July 2025, Colbert had told his audience that the current season would be his last. "I won't be replaced," he said. "All of this is going to end." When CBS formally announced the cancellation, the network released a statement calling Colbert "irreplaceable"—a curious justification for ending the show entirely rather than finding a successor.
The final episode featured Paul McCartney as a guest, performing "Hello, Goodbye" alongside Colbert and other visitors. It was a farewell with some dignity, even as the machinery of late-night television ground to a halt around it.
CBS has denied that political pressure or the show's content played any role in the cancellation decision. The network pointed instead to the economics of the time slot and the broader challenges facing traditional television. Yet the sequence of events—Trump's escalating public attacks, followed by the show's abrupt end, followed by the AI mockery video—created a narrative that was difficult to separate from questions about power, media, and the president's willingness to use new tools to humiliate his critics. Whether the cancellation was truly driven by finances or by something else, the message sent by the AI video was unmistakable: Colbert was being thrown away.
Notable Quotes
I won't be replaced. All of this is going to end.— Stephen Colbert, July 2025
The beginning of the end for untalented late-night hosts— Donald Trump, describing Colbert's dismissal
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did CBS really cancel the show? The network says money, but Trump had been attacking Colbert for months.
The timing is what makes people suspicious. CBS points to late-night ratings and advertising challenges—real problems in that time slot. But Colbert had been a consistent thorn in Trump's side, and the president had been saying so publicly.
So was it the money or the politics?
Probably both, in the way these things usually are. The financial pressure was real. But that pressure exists every year. The question is why they chose this moment to act on it, and whether Trump's campaign against Colbert made the decision easier to justify internally.
What does the AI video tell us about how Trump operates now?
It's a new tool for an old impulse—public humiliation. Before, he'd tweet insults. Now he can generate an image of his enemy in a trash can and share it instantly. It's more visceral, more dehumanizing. And it works because people see it and understand the message immediately.
Did Colbert see it coming?
He seemed to know something was ending. He told his audience in July that the season would be the last, that he wouldn't be replaced. Whether he knew CBS would cancel the whole franchise or just his show, I don't know. But he sounded like someone who'd made peace with it.