EXCLUSIVE: Stephen Colbert’s former late-night bandleader has backed the comedian after the confirmation of his CBS show getting canceled.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert...

A former colleague of Stephen Colbert has opened up about his CBS axe (Image: Getty)

Jon Batiste, the longtime bandleader for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, broke his silence on the show’s cancellation during the ASCAP Grammy Brunch on January 30, calling the network’s decision “sad.”

“I think he’s going to be all right because he’s a genius, a scholar and a gentleman,” Batiste, who has backed Colbert in the past, exclusively told Daily Express U.S. “He’s going to figure it out. I have the utmost confidence in him.”

Batiste, who worked with Colbert for nearly a decade before departing in 2022, said the show‘s end comes at the cost of something larger.

It comes as Colbert brought viewers to tears with a profound statement ahead of the final episode.

 

“It’s sad because of what he provides and what we did together and what the team there gives to the world and gives to culture. That’s now going to be missing. It’s going to be a void in that space,” he said.

CBS confirmed this week that The Late Show will air its final episode on May 21.

The network claimed the show’s losses were up to $40 million a year, but Batiste admitted he was still uncertain about what was going on behind the scenes.

“I’m still unclear about what’s going on,” he said. “But for him, Stephen is good.”

Batiste also addressed the recent Jimmy Kimmel shake-up.

ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! has also been rumored to be ending when Kimmel’s contract expires, after the comedian faced a brief suspension for commenting on Charlie Kirk’s death.

 

Jon Batiste

Batiste was with the late night show from 2015 to 2022 (Image: Getty)

 

Asked whether or not there was a connection, Batiste responded, saying, “We’re in a season where free speech and things that are about opinion or things that are subjective are treated as objective. We’re in a time with strong polarity.”

“That’s going to change. We’re going to look back at this time, and we’re going to know who was standing on the right side and who wasn’t. All you gotta do is stay in your values,” he said.

“When you watch these things happen, don’t fear. That’s my belief in all of it.”

Batiste joined the late-night show in 2017, and left in mid 2022, citing that he wanted to “pursue personal and professional interests.”