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Bruce Springsteen took the spotlight on Stephen Colbert’s second-to-last “Late Night” episode on Wednesday, swiftly taking aim at his long-standing adversary, President Trump, as well as CBS’s parent company, Paramount Skydance.
“I’m here to support Stephen tonight because you’re the first guy in America to lose your show due to a president who can’t handle humor,” Springsteen remarked to the audience shortly after his introduction.
He continued, “And also, because Larry and David Ellison feel they need to pander to him to get what they want,” referring to Paramount’s CEO and his son.
The 76-year-old rock icon then delivered a performance of “Streets of Minneapolis,” a song he released in January as a tribute to Alex Pretti and Renee Good, anti-ICE protesters who lost their lives during Trump-era immigration enforcement in the city.
Despite being a frequent critic of both Colbert and Springsteen, Trump has not yet commented on the performance.
Colbert’s nearly 11-year “Late Show” run will come to a close on Thursday, after more than 1,800 episodes on CBS since he took over from David Letterman’s nearly two-decade reign in 2015.
CBS parent Paramount was sold to Skydance for $8.4 billion in August 2025 after a long, messy negotiation process. David Ellison, the former CEO of Skydance Media, was named CEO of Paramount Skydance after the merger.
The move came a month after CBS announced its plan to cancel “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
The network has denied that political motivations fueled the decision, maintaining that the move was purely financial, given the show’s reported $40 million annual loss.
Critics, including Letterman and fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, have remained skeptical of the reasoning, particularly given Paramount’s efforts to secure regulatory approval for the Skydance deal.
Trump has long celebrated the cancellation of Colbert’s show.
“Stephen Colbert is a pathetic trainwreck, with no talent or anything else necessary for show business success,” the president wrote on Truth Social late last year.