Swapping Satire for Substack
Colbert is out, Weiss is in, and legacy media continues to erode.
All the news coming out of Paramount is a throwback to my 20s and a completely different era of politics and entertainment: Stephen Colbert canceled! Jon Stewart is outraged! Even South Park, which I probably haven’t watched in at least 15 years, has entered the chat! When it comes to Paramount and the Skydance merger, I don’t think I have anything to add that hasn’t already been said by others. But I do think it’s worth unpacking just how thirsty Trump and other wealthy elites are to control the political discourse, and how that’s playing out for them and us.
The Late Show’s cancellation was surely political, and no one is more invested in making sure Americans understand that than Donald Trump. Trump immediately gloated on TruthSocial, saying he “absolutely loved” that Colbert was fired and has since suggested that late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon will be fired next. The Trump White House also issued a statement threatening to cancel daytime talk show The View this week.
Trump wants Americans to know that he has the power to determine what’s on our TV screens and what’s discussed. Considering how Paramount and Disney have already caved to Trump’s whims with millions of dollars to settle lawsuits, it’s not an unreasonable assertion for him to make. Then there’s Paramount and Skydance’s willingness to pay whatever price the Trump Regime demands for ensuring the sale goes through. Trump and the GOP also defunded public broadcasting.
But Trump isn’t alone in wanting to control the discourse, and being willing to invest financial resources and political capital to ensure that happens. This consolidation has been happening for years now, starting when Hulk Hogan and Peter Thiel managed to take down Gawker. Billionaires seem happy to buy a media outlet like the Washington Post, or a social media platform like Twitter, only to burn them to the ground, suggesting that they’re more interested in a consolidation of power and the ability to control the discourse than they are in actually making a profit.
Meanwhile, as CBS shows Stephen Colbert the door, rumor is that they plan to bring in Bari Weiss with a hefty payday, purchasing her Substack media outlet for $200 million and giving her a senior role at CBS News. Weiss, whose entire grift is offering rich and powerful elites who whine incessantly about being canceled yet another platform to whine about being canceled, is a perfect fit for a news division eager to cater to the whims of Donald Trump and his billionaire cronies.
What’s wild to me about coming for Stephen Colbert is that I don’t think he has the cultural cachet that he once did. As has been widely reported, late-night TV as a genre isn’t doing well, and I’ve always felt like Colbert’s talents were wasted there compared to his tenure on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. At this point, if you’re watching Colbert, you’ve probably been a fan for years, and your political views are already set. It’s a valuable audience, one I’m sure CBS could keep profitable if it really wanted to. However, much as I like Colbert, The Late Show didn’t strike me as a genuine threat to Trump or the Regime.
If anything, the cancellation and Trump’s gloating have given Colbert more influence than he would have had otherwise. Supporting Colbert is a way to defy Trump, and Colbert is leaning in, promising that the gloves are off. For all Trump’s efforts to control the media narrative, the continuous Epstein news cycle suggests that while Trump might be able to get news outlets to submit to his authority, he ultimately can’t stop the runaway train that the Epstein files story continues to be. So it’s hard to see his efforts to control the discourse as successful. At least right now.
Stephen Colbert will obviously be fine, and hopefully, whatever he does next will be a better use of his talents. Legacy media outlets won’t recover as easily. Trust in media remains at an all-time low, and everything happening now will only erode it further. That’s before you even consider the competition from content creators on social media, a competition that legacy media is currently losing. I’m not sure how legacy outlets and media companies recover, and given how abysmal most political coverage has been over the last several years, I’m also not sure that they should.
ICYMI
Columbia Agrees to $200 Million Fine to Settle Fight With Trump (New York Times)
Speaking of capitulating to the Trump Regime, Columbia is apparently going all in.
‘I Feel Unsafe Almost Everywhere’: How a Trans Teenager’s Life Has Changed Under Trump (The 19th)
Articles like this are gutting, but I’m always grateful for reporting that focuses on the real harms the Trump Regime causes everyday Americans.
ICE Agents Confronted Manhattan Little League Players at Practice, Then Their Black Coach Did This… (The Root)
Not all heroes wear capes. “The coach said he was disappointed that bystanders in the area didn’t do anything to protect the children during their confrontation with ICE agents, calling them 'cowards.” But for him, doing nothing was not an option. He told CNN, “I just said to myself, ‘I’m willing to die to make sure you get home.'”
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Coda
I’m taking the next two weeks off to recharge, though I might have a guest post for one of those weeks. Either way, publication will resume with me at the helm on Sunday, August 17.
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David Ellison, tis he son of Larry Ellison, the founder and owner of Oracle, and properties like Lanai Island in the Hawaiian Islands. Larry is an associate and major supporter of Trump. David is the owner of Skydance. There is no other motivation for cancelling Colbert. Despite the 1.5 billion spent to aquire South Park, expect to see a major kerfuckle.