After the television network CBS announced in July 2025 that it would cancel comedian Stephen Colbert's late-night talk show, a rumor spread online that Colbert would move to CNN when his contract ended.
For example, a post on Facebook claimed Colbert made this decision after CBS announced the cancellation of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" amid "allegations of corruption, secret payoffs, and an escalating power struggle" (archived):
The post had more than 125,000 reactions, 18,000 comments and 10,000 shares as of this writing. Facebook users left comments that indicated they took the claim at face value
Snopes readers searched the website and emailed seeking to confirm the veracity of the rumor. Several readers wrote, "Is Stephen Colbert moving to CNN?"
Snopes reached out to both Paramount and Colbert to inquire about this rumor and we will update this story should they respond.
However, all available evidence indicated the rumor was false. The pinned comment below the post linked to an advertisement-filled story hosted on an untrustworthy website, which did not discuss Colbert's alleged departure to CNN in the body of the article — though it did mention it in the headline. The site had all the hallmarks of junk content farms. Still, we ran the caption of the post through two artificial intelligence detectors, both of which indicated the text had been AI-generated.
Further, searches on Google, DuckDuckGo and Bing revealed no reputable news outlet had reported such a story. Given the fame of both Colbert and "The Late Show," and given the wide coverage its cancellation received, major publications would have reported on the story had
Snopes has reported on several rumors regarding Colbert and his show, including a claim that "The Late Show" was losing up to $40 million a year.