Stephen Colbert left his former network with a little parting gift in the form of a bill.
According to Variety, CBS will pay an undisclosed amount to Lee Mendelson Film Productions, Inc., following Colbert’s use of the Peanuts TV specials’ theme song during The Late Show’s finale on May 21.
The Late Show house band, Louis Cato and the Great Big Joy Machine, played the Vince Guaraldi Trio’s well-known “Linus and Lucy” music in a segment where the host discussed Lee Mendelson Film Productions’ stringent enforcement of its copyright on the song.
Colbert joked at the time, “Oh no! I hope this doesn’t cost CBS any money!”
On Tuesday, the apparently pre-planned gotcha was confirmed, with the licensing agreement directing CBS’s payout proceeds to longtime Colbert favorite charity, Chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen. The moment came after Colbert was unceremoniously removed from the airwaves after he called out CBS’s parent company, Paramount, for “bribing” the president, who had been paid $16.5 million to settle his 60 Minutes lawsuit.
Paramount, which was about to be acquired by Trump-friendly Skydance—and needed the Trump administration’s approval for the merger—announced the cancellation of The Late Show days after the comments were made. Paramount insists the decision was “purely financial.”
Colbert has remained gracious toward CBS in his comments about the axing, but he admitted that “something changed” between him and the network, as he was asked to sign a longer contract with the company only a couple of years before the announcement.
Before Colbert set up Chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen with yet another chunk of cash, he donated $2.5 million during the second-to-last episode of The Late Show. WCK provides hot meals to victims of natural disasters, armed conflicts, and humanitarian crises. Lee Mendelson Film Productions told Variety the company was happy to support Colbert’s efforts to fund the organization.
“LMFP found the music’s use on The Late Show funny and entertaining, and is proud to support World Central Kitchen’s mission,” its chairman, Jason Mendelson, said in a statement. “A principal goal of our enforcement actions is to educate individuals, businesses, and government entities about the need to obtain written license agreements to use music in a commercial setting.”
One X user reacting to Colbert’s last hit on CBS described the move as “When your last ‘F--- you’ feeds people.”
