Stephen Colbert taunts network bosses while mocking Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ fee: ‘CBS got to do it for just $16 million’

Stephen Colbert took a pointed shot at his network’s leadership Thursday night while also mocking Donald Trump over the so-called Board of Peace’s billion-dollar membership fee, quipping that CBS paid “just $16 million” to “obey” the president.

Colbert, who is signing off as The Late Show’s host in May after Paramount decided to cancel his show just days before the Trump administration approved its merger with David Ellison’s Skydance, has spent the past few months zinging his corporate bosses on his way out the door. And he let his audience know on Thursday that he wouldn’t be slowing down as his last day approaches.

During his opening monologue, Colbert riffed on the president’s recently launched “Board of Peace,” which he bills as a charter to resolve a series of global conflicts and he will chair personally.

While more than 20 countries have said they will join the board and leaders of those nations were on hand at a signing ceremony in Davos this week, major Western allies have indicated they will not be taking part at this time due to a series of concerns – especially as tensions escalate between the United States and Europe over Greenland. Meanwhile, the president has already disinvited Canada following Prime Minister Mark Carney’s blistering rebuke of American hegemony – but has extended invitations to both China and Russia.

“Trump’s next mission in Davos was debuting a new international club that he calls the Board of Peace, where nations can pay $1 billion for a permanent seat. No surprise that peace has a price,” Colbert began.

open image in gallery

Members nations on the board ““shall serve a term of no more than three years,” unless they “contribute more than” $1 billion, according to the charter. The White House has since said there is not a “minimum membership fee to join the Board of Peace,” and that the billion-dollar contribution “simply offers permanent membership to partner countries who demonstrate deep commitment to peace, security, and prosperity.”

“Right now, it’s unclear where the funds collected from the Board of Peace members would be held. My guess is Trump’s personal piggy bank, the Canklebankle. According to the charter, the board will have one man in charge,” the Late Show star added. “And I’ll give you a hint. He’s in the diaper.”

After further ridiculing the Board of Peace as nothing more than Trump “literally just doing model U.N.,” Colbert then took aim at his network’s parent company, reminding viewers that Paramount paid Trump to settle a “meritless” lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview just weeks before the FCC signed off on the Skydance-Paramount merger.

“Now, admittedly, the idea of paying a billion dollars to obey Donald Trump seems a little steep; after all, CBS got to do it for just $16 million,” the comic cracked, prompting applause and laughter from the studio audience.

Colbert, who has long been a Trump antagonist, was highly critical of the Paramount settlement with the president immediately after it was announced in July, calling it “big, fat bribe” and noting that legal experts called Trump’s lawsuit frivolous and without merit.

open image in gallery

Days later, CBS revealed that it was canceling the Late Show and Colbert would be leaving the network in May – something that the president had repeatedly called for over the years. While the network said the decision was purely a financial one due to declining ad revenues for late-night television, CBS staffers claimed it was a continuation of the “Trump shakedown” that began with the settlement.

Elsewhere on Thursday night’s broadcast, Colbert also reacted to FCC chairman Brendan Carr’s push to enforce long-dormant guidance on political candidates appearing on talk shows, which appears to be aimed squarely at late-night hosts who have been vocal critics of the president.

This is clearly an attempt to silence me, Jimmy and Seth,” Colbert said, referencing fellow late-night stars Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers, who have both been frequently targeted by Trump – and in Kimmel’s case, briefly pulled from the air following a warning from Carr.

“I’ve got one thing to say to the [Federal Communications Commission],” Colbert added. “I’m flattered you think that appearing on my show has the power to affect politics in any way, but I’ve been doing this job for 21 years, and let me tell you something, buddy—if our government had turned out the way I had chosen, you would not have the power to make this announcement.”

Carr’s mission to enforce the equal time rules, however, could have unintended consequences. As public interest lawyer Andrew Jay Schwartzman told the New York Times, while Carr is looking to “trim the sails of certain talk shows,” this could also raise the question of whether conservative talk radio hosts would also have to provide equal time to candidates.