Bruce Springsteen took center stage at Stephen Colbert’s penultimate “Late Show” on Wednesday, wasting no time to bash his familiar foe, President Trump, along with CBS parent company Paramount Skydance.
“I’m here in support tonight for Stephen, because you’re the first guy in America who’s lost his show because we’ve got a president who can’t take a joke,” Springsteen told the crowd seconds after being introduced.
“And uh, because Larry and David Ellison feel they need to kiss his ass to get what they want,” The Boss added — referring to the CEO of Paramount and his son.
The 76-year-old rock legend then performed “Streets of Minneapolis,” a track he released in January dedicated to Alex Pretti and Renee Good, anti-ICE protesters who were killed during the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations in the city.
Trump, a frequent critic of Colbert and Springsteen, has yet to remark on the performance.
Colbert’s nearly 11-year “Late Show” run will come to a close on Thursday, after more than 1,800 episodes on CBS since he took over from David Letterman’s nearly two-decade reign in 2015.
CBS parent Paramount was sold to Skydance for $8.4 billion in August 2025 after a long, messy negotiation process. David Ellison, the former CEO of Skydance Media, was named CEO of Paramount Skydance after the merger.
The move came a month after CBS announced its plan to cancel “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
The network has denied that political motivations fueled the decision, maintaining that the move was purely financial, given the show’s reported $40 million annual loss.
Critics, including Letterman and fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, have remained skeptical of the reasoning, particularly given Paramount’s efforts to secure regulatory approval for the Skydance deal.
Trump has long celebrated the cancellation of Colbert’s show.
“Stephen Colbert is a pathetic trainwreck, with no talent or anything else necessary for show business success,” the president wrote on Truth Social late last year.
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