New York, New York – Fans of comedian and The Late Show host Stephen Colbert hit the streets of Manhattan to protest and petition against the show’s abrupt cancellation.
According to the Guardian, demonstrators held a “Save Colbert” rally on Wednesday, during which they protested outside the historic Ed Sullivan Theater where The Late Show is filmed. They also delivered boxes filled with petition signatures to Paramount headquarters in Times Square.
Tony Simone, a New York state assembly member, and New York City council member Erick Bottcher also joined the protesters.
The petition, led by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), managed to gain 250,000 signatures, including support from several Democratic lawmakers and celebrity figures.
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The campaign comes after the show’s host network CBS announced last week the show was being cancelled, claiming it was “purely a financial decision.”
Paramount, the network’s parent company, has been working to merge with Skydance Media, which would require approval from President Donald Trump’s Federal Communications Commission.
Many have speculated the cancellation of Colbert, who is an outspoken critic of the president, was an attempt to appease Trump.
The president reacted to the news with a social media post saying: “I absolutely love that Colbert was fired.”
Dozens of protesters marched to the Paramount headquarters, where they were met by security guards and police officers who prevented them from entering. They did manage to drop the 10 boxes of petition signatures off in front of the building, but it’s unclear if officials within the company retrieved them.
Adam Green, co-founder of PCCC, said the petition is “about the distressing trend of people in institutions pre-emptively caving and complying to a White House that has shown it will abuse power.”
“If dissenting voices like Stephen Colbert’s can be silenced, in addition to universities losing their leadership and law firms being co-opted, that is yet another step down the road to tyranny and authoritarianism,” Green said, per the Guardian.
