Late-night legend David Letterman has made no secret of his contempt for CBS’ decision to cancel “The Late Show,” the program he hosted from 1993 until he retired in 2015.
And on Thursday, during one of the final episodes of Stephen Colbert’s tenure before the show is taken off the air for good on May 21, Letterman delivered an R-rated message to the network.
Colbert and Letterman revived a classic bit from Letterman’s era, in which he would throw objects off the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater, where the show is taped.
Aiming at the CBS logo on the street below, the duo hurled guests’ chairs, Colbert’s own seat, and eventually a series of watermelons.
At the end of the segment, Colbert asked Letterman if he had a message.
“Well, not necessarily to the audience but to the folks at CBS, in the words of the great Ed Murrow, good night and good luck motherfuckers,” Letterman said.
Earlier in the show, Letterman took multiple swipes at CBS, which last July said it was shelving “The Late Show” for financial reasons.
The nixing came as parent company Paramount Global sought — and ultimately received — approval from the Trump administration to merge with Skydance, prompting some commentators to suggest that Colbert had been sacrificed to help push the deal through.
“Boy, you know what happened backstage? I’m standing backstage. A guy comes over, and he says he’s from CBS, and then he fired me,” Letterman joked at one point.
“You can take a man’s show,” he added. “You can’t take a man’s voice. So, that’s the good news.”
Watch the interview here: