Skydance Closes $8 Billion Paramount Deal After Colbert Got the Axe

The Skydance-Paramount merger is officially a done deal — and it’s all going down as “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” rolls through its final season.

Skydance Media, led by CEO David Ellison, closed its massive $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global … cementing one of the biggest shake-ups Hollywood’s seen in years.

The completed merger, announced Thursday, had been months in the making, getting the final thumbs-up from Paramount’s board and surviving a lengthy FCC review — and now, it’s full steam ahead. The company began public trading on NASDAQ Thursday morning.

But the timing was controversial — just weeks earlier, CBS announced that “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” would end in May 2026. That followed a $16 million payment from Paramount to settle a lawsuit involving the TV news program “60 Minutes,” which President Donald Trump alleged had deceptively edited an interview with Kamala Harris in her favor during last year’s presidential election campaign.

Colbert called that a “bribe” on his show. Days later, Paramount announced his show would not be renewed, citing a lack of profit. One of late night’s most recognizable voices, Colbert’s hosted “The Late Show” since 2015.