David Letterman, the former host of a late-night television program, has criticized Paramount‘s decision to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Trump concerning a “60 minutes” interview, suggesting the company prioritized avoiding conflict over upholding freedom of the press.
Letterman also directed his commentary towards Skydance Media, the impending new owner of Paramount, questioning its identity and referring to its founder, David Ellison, as part of “the Oracle twins.”
“The ellison twins, the Oracle boys, they don’t want any trouble along the lines of freedom of the press or free speech or freedom of expression,” Letterman stated.”They don’t want to get their hands dirty. They don’t want the government going after them, because that concept of freedom of the press and freedom of speech – that’s so old-fashioned.”
Letterman speculated on a hypothetical conversation between the “Ellison twins” and CBS, proposing that the new ownership sought to remove Stephen Colbert from his hosting duties to preemptively address potential issues with the trump administration.
“so they say to the CBS people, ‘geez, what about that kid, Stephen Colbert? He’s always shooting his mouth off about the administration. We don’t want any trouble from that guy,'” Letterman recounted. “So the CBS people say, ‘Hey, boys, here’s what I’m going to do. Not only are we going to get rid of that guy, we’re going to get rid of the entire franchise so you don’t have to worry about another guy. It’s gone, buddy.'”
While reports have indicated that “The Late Show” incurred annual losses ranging from $40 million to $50 million, Letterman expressed skepticism regarding this financial explanation.
“Here’s what I know. If they were losing this kind of money, you’re telling me losing this kind of money happened yesterday?” he questioned. “I’ll bet they were losing this kind of money a month ago. I’ll bet they were losing this kind of money six weeks ago.or they have never been losing money.”
During his tenure as a late-night host, Letterman frequently satirized his network employers at NBC and CBS.Stephen Colbert took over the host position following Letterman’s retirement in 2015.
Letterman conveyed his belief that Colbert will ultimately fare well in his career.
“For Steven, I love this. He’s a martyr,” letterman remarked. “Good for him. And if you listen carefully, you can hear them unfolding chairs at the Hall of Fame for his induction, right?”
