Monday, September 8, was the 10-year anniversary of “The Late Present with Stephen Colbert,” and MoveOn members in New York Metropolis marked the event with a Colbert contest, march, and rally in Manhattan—culminating in a petition supply exterior Paramount’s NYC headquarters. The day was lined in a number of publications and shops, together with The Submit and Courier, Reuters, and LateNighter.
CBS cancelled “The Late Present with Stephen Colbert” earlier this summer time, simply 72 hours after Colbert referred to as out its homeowners, Paramount, for its $16 million settlement with Trump, calling it “a giant fats bribe.” Why? As a result of the deal unfolded amid a merger between Paramount World and Skydance—a merger that required federal approval.
Over time, Colbert has been a daring and witty voice fearlessly utilizing his platform to name out authoritarianism and company greed. And now, Paramount and CBS are giving him the axe for the very commentary that has made him the top-rated late-night present on the air—all to allow them to curry favor with the Trump administration. That’s why greater than 145,000 MoveOn members have signed a petition demanding that Paramount reverse its shady resolution and maintain Colbert on-air.
On Monday, attendees gathered exterior Sacco’s Pizza (certainly one of Colbert’s favourite pizza spots) for a contest the place people stepped on to a pedestal and gave their finest Colbert impression—from his iconic phrases to his scathing monologues. They had been judged by movie star friends, together with comic Negin Farsad, drag queen and activist Peppermint, and public defender and advocate Eliza Orlins.
“Stephen is without doubt one of the final folks talking fact to energy and serving to folks get their information on the finish of the night time with out freaking out,” mentioned Josh Burstein, the “Viewers Alternative” contest winner. “That’s such a priceless service to America. We want extra journalists. We want extra satirists. We want extra Colberts.”
The group, led by the Native 802 AFM union band, marched to The Ed Sullivan Theater, the place a line of individuals stretched across the nook had been ready to get right into a taping of the present. We sang blissful birthday, celebrating 10 years of daring, fearless commentary and calling for 10 extra years, adopted by chants like “PARAMOUNT BOSSES, RICH AND RUDE—WE DON’T LIKE YOUR ATTITUDE!” and “HEY HEY! HO HO! CORPORATE CORRUPTION HAS GOT TO GO!”
We concluded the day by taking MoveOn member signatures on to Paramount headquarters, passing by our digital billboard in Instances Sq. alongside the best way.
However this isn’t the top of our marketing campaign—it’s only the start. We’ve eight months to maintain up the strain and urge executives to reverse their resolution. Paramount and CBS are hoping the cancellation will get drowned out within the information cycle or swept below the rug. Collectively, we will remind these companies who it’s they reply to: us.
Obtain and print our FREE postcards—together with one you may colour and add your individual “Late Present” artwork to—and ship help to Colbert and his workforce as they proceed to make use of their platform to name out Trump, company greed, and authoritarianism. And ship a postcard to Paramount expressing your disappointment, calling out their corruption, and demanding that they maintain Colbert on-air.
Deal with your postcards to:
ATTN: David EllisonParamount1515 BroadwayNew York, NY 10036
The Late Present with Stephen Colbert1697 BroadwayNew York, NY 10019
*You probably have a query, you can even add your letter to be learn on air. Study extra right here.
And use the hashtag #KeepColbertOnAir to assist unfold the phrase and encourage others to take motion with you!
