Stephen Colbert praised South Park for its provocative season 27 premiere as his own show faces the axe for criticizing President Donald Trump. The show’s episode featured an AI clip of President Donald Trump stripping naked in the desert.

The silencing of jokes and jabs on network airwaves shatters a tangible demonstration of nuanced thinking, free speech and philosophical complexity.

The FCC still hasn’t approved the Paramount-Skydance merger, which may be where Colbert joins the saga. The cheeky host roasts Trump regularly on his show and is far more political than David Letterman, whom he replaced in 2015. On July 14, Colbert called the Paramount payment to Trump involving "60 Minutes" a “ big, fat bribe ,” on CBS’s own air.

CBS says its decision to end Stephen Colbert’s late-night comedy show is financial, not political. Yet even with the ample skepticism about that explanation, there's no denying the economics were not working in Colbert's favor.

The first politician to weigh in happened to be the show’s July 17 guest, Sen. Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif. He posted on social media, “Just finished taping with Stephen Colbert … If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.”

In a direct and unequivocal response, Stephen Colbert addressed former President Donald Trump during Monday night’s broadcast of The Late Show, following Trump’s celebratory remarks regarding the cancellation of Colbert’s program.

CBS’ decision to cut ties with Stephen Colbert and its decades-old “Late Show” franchise come next May will leave a major hole in the format — but one that has been widening. TV networks have been cutting costs at their late-night mainstays for the past few years.