The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will broadcast its final show in May, CBS said on Thursday.

The network, which has aired The Late Show with Colbert as its host since 2015, said it is ending the franchise after a “historic run”.

“We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire ‘THE LATE SHOW’ franchise at that time,” CBS executives said in a joint statement.

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“We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television.

“This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night

“It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”

Colbert, who took over “The Late Show” from David Letterman after having hosted Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report for nearly a decade, announced the news on his show Thursday. He noted that he learned of the cancellation the previous night.

“It’s not just the end of our show,” he said. “I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away.”

“The folks at CBS have been great partners,” he said.

Californian Democratic Senator Adam Schiff said Thursday that he had just finished recording a segment with Colbert, a vocal critic of the Trump administration, and questioned the network’s explanation for cancelling the show.

“If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know,” he said on X. “And deserves better.”

CBS’ parent company, Paramount, is in the midst of an $8 billion merger with Hollywood studio Skydance. But the deal has been delayed for months as talks with lawyers for President Donald Trump dragged on after he filed a lawsuit over an interview the CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes aired with Vice President Kamala Harris last year.

Paramount agreed in principle on July 2 to settle the suit by paying $16 million to Trump’s future presidential library. However, Paramount Global said at the time, “this lawsuit is completely separate from and unrelated to the Skydance transaction and the FCC approval process”. Trump’s Federal Communications Commission chairman, Brendan Carr, is investigating the deal.

Colbert recently criticised the settlement on The Late Show, calling it “a big fat bribe”.

“Paramount knows they could have easily fought it, because in their own words, the lawsuit was completely without merit,” he said, referring to how Paramount described the suit before it settled.

Among those criticising the decision was fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel of Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC.

“Love you Stephen,” Kimmel wrote on Instagram, adding: “(Expletive) you and all your Sheldons CBS” — apparently referring to the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory and its follow-on, Young Sheldon.

CBS said this year it wouldn’t continue the other show in its late-night suite, After Midnight, after host Taylor Tomlinson announced she would be leaving.

Colbert, an executive producer on the show, expressed his support for Tomlinson and CBS in a statement at the time. “I want to thank CBS for their constant support and invaluable partnership on ‘After Midnight,’ and the whole staff for their amazing dedication,” he said in the statement, according to Variety.