The Fall of Colbert and the New Subversives

Like a ghostly flickering between radio stations on a country night—multiple voices, and realities, briefly converging on one dial—we witnessed, not long ago, the tangling of several Paramount-related narratives. One was the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which many liberals interpreted as a sign that the corporate giant was attempting to appease Donald Trump ahead of a proposed merger with Skydance. This was, to some on the left, evidence that the president was imposing his will on the culture, as all good autocrats do. The second burst of news, coming shortly after the eventual Colbert cancellation—the comedian will remain on the air until next year—was that Paramount paid $1.25 billion for the rights to South Park, a comedy mainstay since the 1990s. Earlier in the month, in what was a disturbing development for First Amendment rights, Paramount forked over $16 million to settle Trump’s lawsuit over the editing of an interview on 60 Minutes. Paramount, as part of the settlement, will also release written transcripts of future 60 minutes interviews with presidential candidates.