In a stunning turn of events, Paramount’s CBS network has decided to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. This announcement – ending Colbert’s run as the top-rated late-night host – came just days after he openly criticized his parent company for what he called a “big fat bribe” to President Donald Trump. Specifically, Paramount Global (which owns CBS and the streaming service Paramount+) paid Trump a $16 million legal settlement over a disputed 60 Minutes interview. Now Trump is boasting that the network’s new owners will also give him $20 million worth of free advertising and airtime as part of the deal. The whole situation has fans outraged and crying foul. Was Colbert’s show axed to appease the president? Many believe so, and it’s sparking a movement to #BoycottParamount and #BoycottCBS in protest.
Colbert’s Cancellation: Why It Feels Like Censorship
Stephen Colbert has never shied away from lampooning Donald Trump. As a result, he’s often been in the former president’s crosshairs. But few expected that in 2025, with Trump back in the White House, a major network would abruptly decide to pull the plug on Colbert’s popular show. CBS claims the decision is purely financial – noting that The Late Show is expensive to produce and was losing money – but the timing tells a different story. Just 72 hours before the cancellation was announced, Colbert roasted Paramount for settling with Trump, suggesting the payout was essentially a bribe to smooth the way for a big corporate merger. Paramount is seeking government approval on an $8 billion sale of CBS to a new owner, and Trump’s administration holds the levers of that approval. The implication is hard to ignore: a beloved comedian who spoke truth to power may have been silenced to curry favor with that power.
President Trump certainly isn’t hiding his satisfaction. He crowed on social media about Colbert being “fired,” even gloating that Colbert’s “talent was less than his ratings.” More alarmingly, Trump took aim at other late-night hosts like Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon, declaring they are “next.” It’s an extraordinary situation: a sitting president celebrating the removal of a prominent critic on a network and hinting that other outspoken comedians could be dealt with similarly. This has sent a chill through the entertainment industry and among free-speech advocates. If networks start caving to political pressure to cut off voices that authority figures dislike, where does it end? The backlash has been swift and intense, with fellow hosts, journalists, and viewers decrying the move as blatant censorship.
Even members of Congress have weighed in. Senator Elizabeth Warren reacted to Trump’s boast about the $16 million settlement plus $20 million in promised ads by saying, “This reeks of corruption.” She’s not alone – to many Americans, it’s beyond inappropriate for the president to effectively strong-arm media companies or dangle regulatory approval in exchange for favorable treatment. Colbert’s own colleagues are speaking up too. Comedy legend Jon Stewart (who hosts The Daily Show on another Paramount-owned network) delivered a blistering monologue defending Colbert and condemning their parent company for “trying to censor and control” its talent. The message from all corners is clear: this is not how a free press and entertainment industry should operate.
Why Boycotting Paramount+ Is the Public’s Leverage
When political and corporate interests collude, consumers sometimes feel powerless. But one power we absolutely have is where we spend our money and attention. That’s why many outraged viewers are turning their anger into action by boycotting Paramount+ and other Paramount properties. A boycott sends a signal that viewers won’t support a company that appears to prioritize political favors over integrity and creative freedom.
Importantly, even a relatively small boycott can have a big impact on a company like Paramount+. Streaming services and media companies live and die by their subscriber numbers and viewership. Wall Street and corporate boards pay close attention to growth curves – if that line even flattens by a fraction of a percent, alarms go off. It might surprise you, but companies are highly susceptible to losing just a tiny percentage of customers:
- ~0.5% (Gray Tier): This is a tiny sliver of the customer base, but it can be the canary in the coal mine. A drop of under one percent in subscribers or viewers might not make headlines, but internally executives will take notice. It signals a negative trend could be forming. In fact, media analysts recall that when a leading streaming service (like Netflix) lost only a few hundred thousand subscribers out of over 200 million – well under 1% – its stock price plummeted. Investors know that today’s 0.5% dip could grow if the brand’s reputation is tarnished.
- 1% (Yellow Tier): Around one percent of customers walking away is a serious warning sign. For a platform the size of Paramount+, 1% of subscribers could be roughly around 800,000 people. Losing that many paying customers might equate to tens of millions of dollars in lost annual revenue. Beyond the raw dollars, it tells management that a real segment of their audience is fed up. At this stage, companies often begin scrambling to respond – you might see public relations statements, minor policy changes, or special promotions to win people back. They know a small crack can quickly widen.
- 5% (Orange Tier): Few corporations can absorb a sustained 5% loss of business without significant pain. At roughly five percent, the hit to revenue is enormous – potentially hundreds of millions of dollars gone in a year for a company like Paramount+. That’s the kind of drop that triggers emergency meetings in boardrooms and questions from shareholders. Competitors would smell blood in the water. We’ve seen real-world examples: iconic brands that faced public backlash saw sales fall in this range and had to overhaul their strategies. At 5%, a company might start reversing the very decisions that led to the boycott or even remove top executives deemed responsible. In other words, at this “orange alert” level, no one at the company can ignore the boycott – it’s existential.
- 10% (Red Tier): Ten percent is crisis level. It’s hard to get there unless a company commits a truly major offense or repeatedly alienates its customer base, but it’s not unheard of. If one in ten customers disappear, the company’s growth story is finished and it’s in full-blown decline. For a subscription service, a 10% subscriber loss could mean nearly 8 million global users gone, and likely on their way to a competitor. The revenue loss (on the order of three-quarters of a billion dollars annually if we estimate roughly $100 per subscriber per year) would force drastic action – think major leadership shakeups, apologies in the press, and a desperate attempt to rebuild trust. The stock price would be in freefall. Essentially, 10% is a nightmare scenario for executives, and they will do almost anything to avoid it.
The key point: you don’t need every customer to join a boycott for it to succeed. Even hitting that yellow or orange tier can bring a powerful company to the bargaining table. Media companies in particular often operate on thin profit margins because they pour so much money into content. So losing a fraction of their audience can wipe out profits and turn growth into shrinkage overnight. That’s why a well-organized boycott is so formidable – it directly threatens what these companies care about most: their bottom line and future growth.
How Badge of Dishonor Supercharges the Boycott Effort
Traditional boycotts can be hard to coordinate. Individuals cancel their subscriptions or stop buying a product, but often they feel like lone voices. You might ask yourself, “Does my cancellation really matter? Will anyone even notice?” This is where a new platform called BadgeOfDishonor.com comes into play and changes the game. It’s a website designed to let people join forces and log their boycotts, tracking the collective impact in one place.
What does this accomplish? For one, it provides visual proof of our momentum. On Badge of Dishonor, you can register that you’ve canceled Paramount+ (or any other company’s service you’re boycotting) and even input how much money you typically spend on them. The site then aggregates everyone’s input. As more people join, a live counter rises – showing the number of boycotters and the estimated dollars in revenue that Paramount is losing because of us. It’s like watching a petition grow, except with dollar signs attached.
This solves a few problems that often plague boycotts:
- No more feeling isolated: You’re not just one angry customer tossing your subscription away in the void. You’re part of a visible, growing community of thousands. That morale boost can keep people committed. When you see “$5,000,000 in canceled subscriptions” and climbing, you know you’re contributing to something significant. It encourages others who are on the fence to say, “Hey, this is really picking up steam. I want to be a part of that too!”
- Accountability for the company: Companies like Paramount can try to publicly downplay a protest, but they can’t argue with hard numbers. If 50,000 users (or more) have publicly logged that they left, that’s a tough statistic to ignore. Media outlets are much more likely to cover a boycott when there’s data. A headline that “Paramount+ boycott organizers report 50,000 cancellations worth an estimated $X million” will grab attention. That kind of press not only pressures the company’s leadership, it also alerts more potential supporters to join the cause (a virtuous cycle for the boycott, vicious cycle for the company).
- Turbocharging word-of-mouth: The site creates shareable milestones. For example, when the boycott hits a big round number – say a million dollars in lost revenue – that’s news you can blast on social media. People tweet it, post it, hashtag it (#BoycottParamount), and it draws even more eyes. It adds an element of excitement and urgency, almost like a fundraising drive in reverse. Instead of raising money, we’re collectively withholding money from the company, and everyone can watch it add up in real time.
Badge of Dishonor essentially acts as a rallying point. It’s not owned by Paramount or any corporate entity – it’s a grassroots tool for consumers. By logging your boycott there, you’re not just venting frustration; you’re contributing to a measurable financial statement of dissent. It also helps avoid one of the biggest pitfalls of consumer boycotts: losing momentum. Too often, people get angry for a week or two and then move on. But with a centralized platform reminding everyone of the ongoing impact and allowing them to track progress, it’s easier to stick with it. Each person’s commitment reinforces others.
Why Now Is the Time to Act (Fast!)
If you’re upset about Colbert’s cancellation and uneasy about the direction things are heading, now is the moment to act. There’s a window of opportunity to make a strong statement before this issue fades from the headlines. The longer we wait, the more likely CBS/Paramount will assume the storm has blown over. Acting quickly while the controversy is hot increases the chance of drawing in more supporters and perhaps even getting a response from the company.
There’s also a larger principle at stake beyond just one show. As mentioned, Trump openly hinted that other outspoken hosts could be targeted next. Today it’s Colbert; tomorrow it could be other voices you care about. We have to send a clear message that viewers won’t tolerate this kind of interference and retaliation. By canceling our subscriptions or turning off CBS, we’re effectively saying: “If you cave to bullies or engage in corrupt deals, you will lose our business.” That message needs to be loud and unambiguous, not only to Paramount but to all media companies watching this saga. Otherwise, silence or inaction could embolden this as the “new normal,” where powerful figures can pressure networks to muzzle critics and the public just shrugs.
Already we’re seeing sparks of resistance. On social media, hashtags like #BoycottCBS and #BoycottParamount have been trending as fans vent their anger. Some subscribers have posted screenshots of their canceled Paramount+ accounts, declaring they refuse to fund a company that would sell out a beloved comedian to please the president. In New York City, a crowd of protesters even gathered outside the Ed Sullivan Theater (home of The Late Show) with signs and chants, showing solidarity with Colbert and disapproval of CBS’s decision. It’s inspiring to see, and it underscores that this boycott isn’t coming out of nowhere – it’s part of a broader public pushback.
By joining in now, you contribute to a growing movement and help tip it from a spark into a flame. Corporate executives make calculations; if they sense a wave of cancellations and bad PR is still building, they may decide it’s better to address the issue sooner rather than later. Perhaps Paramount could be pressured to reverse course on Colbert’s cancellation (though that might be wishful thinking), or at least it could deter them and other companies from ever doing something like this again. If nothing else, it will cost them financially and reputationally, which is a price that will make them think twice in the future.
A United Stand for Integrity and Free Speech
In moments like this, everyday people have more power than it might appear. Stephen Colbert himself, in his first monologue after the cancellation news, quipped that “cancel culture’s gone way too far” – turning the accusation on its head to point at the irony of a big corporation cancelling a show because a politician didn’t like his jokes. “They killed off our show,” Colbert said of CBS, “but they made one mistake. They left me alive.” In that spirit, we the viewers are “alive” too, and we don’t have to passively accept a decision that feels wrong. We can vote with our wallets and our attention.
Boycotting Paramount+ is more than a symbolic gesture; it strikes at the heart of the company’s ambitions. Paramount Global is pouring billions into streaming, trying to compete in a crowded market. They need goodwill and subscribers – and they need the merger deal in Washington to go smoothly. We can make it clear that capitulating to political pressure is bad for business. If enough of us leave their platform and loudly explain why we’re leaving, the message will echo: audiences value truth and independence over propaganda and backroom deals.
Of course, no one person’s action will change a giant corporation. But thousands of us together absolutely can. We’ve outlined how even a modest percentage of customer revolt can shake a media empire. And with tools like Badge of Dishonor, we can ensure our actions are counted and amplified. It’s about strength in numbers.
So, if you believe in what Colbert was standing up for – that media companies shouldn’t buy into corruption or silence voices to please the powerful – consider taking a stand. Cancel that Paramount+ subscription (at least for now). Log your cancellation on BadgeOfDishonor.com to add to the growing tally. Tell your friends why you’re doing it; encourage them to do the same if they share your outrage. Post on your platform of choice with #BoycottParamount to help keep the conversation trending. These are small steps, but together they send a resounding message.
History has shown that when consumers unite behind a cause, companies do listen. Whether it was influencing advertisers to drop problematic TV hosts, pushing brands to change offensive policies, or getting corporations to cut ties with unethical partners – public pressure works when it’s organized and persistent. Here, our cause is both principled and clear: we’re demanding that entertainment companies uphold their creative integrity and not become tools of political manipulation. And we’re reminding those in power that if they try to strong-arm the free press or entertainment, the public will strong-arm right back by withdrawing support.
This fight is about protecting the voices that speak truth to power and ensuring that big media stays on the side of its audience, not on the side of the highest bidder or the loudest bully. It’s a fight worth having. Colbert’s show may be ending, but his message doesn’t have to. By acting fast, staying united, and leveraging platforms that amplify our impact, we can hold Paramount accountable and maybe even set an example that reverberates beyond this one company.
In the end, a successful boycott will do more than send a financial signal – it will send a moral one. It tells every media executive and politician watching: the public will not be silent when our favorite voices are silenced unjustly. And that is a powerful statement indeed. Let’s make it together.