Stephen Colbert has invited former CBS anchor John Dickerson onto his late-night show just days after a bitter clash with the network over its MAGA leanings.
Dickerson, 57, left his role as CBS Evening News co-host at the end of last year after the network began its MAGA-friendly makeover. He was replaced by Tony Dokoupil, who was installed by the Trump-approved new CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss.
Dickerson will join Colbert next Tuesday in a live show that will air live directly after President Trump’s State of the Union address.
While Dickerson has been a frequent guest on Colbert’s show, this will be his first appearance since his exit from CBS. It will also be Colbert’s final post-State of the Union live broadcast, with his contract with CBS expiring in May.
While he was still on air, Dickerson had been vocal about CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global, settling with Donald Trump over a 60 Minutes report that cost them $16 million.
“We pride ourselves on our BS detector, so it ought to work on ourselves, too,” Dickerson said in a monologue that aired on Evening News last July. “When it doesn’t, the stakes are real: a loss of public trust, the spread of misinformation.”
“The obstacles to getting it right are many,” he went on. “The Paramount settlement poses a new obstacle: can you hold power to account after paying it millions? Can an audience trust you when it thinks you’ve traded away that trust? The audience will decide that.”
Colbert has long been a fan of Dickerson. To mark his final appearance on CBS Evening News, Colbert called him “a journalist of sterling integrity” and declared, “Mr. Dickerson, you are welcome here at the Ed Sullivan for as long as I am.”
In December last year, on the night of Dickerson’s final appearance on CBS, the two men appeared on a Slate panel, where Colbert hugged Dickerson and then flipped the bird-which was seen to be a statement to the network.
Dokoupil has yet to be seen on Colbert’s show. Previously, anchors including Katie Couric, Scott Pelley and Norah O’Donnell have all sat on Colbert’s couch either before or after taking on the Evening News role.
On Tuesday, Colbert made headlines when he revealed he had been told by the network “in no uncertain terms” that he could not feature Texas state Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat, on his show.
“He was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast,” Colbert explained.
“Then I was told in some uncertain terms that not only could I not have him on, I could not mention not having him on. And because my network clearly doesn’t want us to talk about this, let’s talk about this.”
The FCC, headed by Trump appointee Brendan Carr, is attempting to introduce the “equal time” rule, where politicians from all parties need to be included, to late-night TV where it currently does not apply.
Colbert’s interview with Talarico did not air on TV but was released on YouTube. It is has now had over 8 million views; most clips on Colbert’s channel have under 3 million views.
