James Corden, the British late-night host who remains the star of Cats no matter how hard he tries to disavow it, said on Thursday that he would be stepping down from The Late Late Show, the CBS nightly gig he’s held since 2015. Though he has signed a one-year extension to his contract, he plans on leaving ahead of summer 2023, he told Deadline. “It’s been a really hard decision to leave because I’m so immensely proud of the show,” Corden told the outlet, adding that he’d been thinking about leaving for “a long time.” The actor, also known for his turns in The Prom and The Emoji Movie, told Varietylate last year that he did not view his late-night show as his “final destination.” A senior CBS source told the Daily Mailthat the network had “desperately tried to keep him for longer” but that Corden’s mind had been made up. “He’s been such a hit with us for so many years, we will miss him very much.” Among those less likely to be shedding a tear over his impending departure include such demographics as K-pop stans, Wicked petitioners, and Hollywood motorists just trying to get to work without a man dressed in a rat onesie pelvic-thrusting outside their car windows.
