CBS has paused takedown notices issued to YouTube users uploading bootleg clips of Stephen Colbert‘s recent stint on Only in Monroe.
Colbert’s long-running late-night show aired for the last time on Thursday (May 21), and during his final monologue, he reflected on his 2015 appearance on Michigan’s public access station, Only In Monroe, where he performed a test run of The Late Show “for an audience of 12 people”, with Eminem as a guest.
On Friday night (May 22), he surprised audiences by returning to the station’s 11:35pm time slot alongside regular hosts, Michelle Baumann and Kaye Lani Rae Rafko Wilson, as well as guests like Detroit native Jack White and actors Steve Buscemi and Jeff Daniels.
Colbert then launched his new YouTube channel over the weekend, and so far has only one video uploaded, his May 22 hosting gig on Only in Monroe. However, other YouTube users appeared to beat him to uploading it, with one channel bringing in over 600,000 views on their clip of Colbert’s show, while his own YouTube page has just over half of those views for the same video.
Many expressed frustration after being hit with copyright takedown notices for sharing clips, and, given the outcry over the notices, CBS then said that for now, it would stop any further action on takedowns.
A day after his show was canceled by CBS, Stephen Colbert guest-hosted 'Only in Monroe,' a local public access show in Monroe, Michigan, along with musical director Jack White. pic.twitter.com/GIU1eUBUyl
— Blue Georgia (@BlueGeorgia) May 23, 2026
Paramount is apparently trying to suppress copies of "Only in Monroe" from appearing on other social platforms by filing frivolous copyright notices, even though the show was produced by a public access TV channel and doesn't use their intellectual property… https://t.co/yS6vjiIoic pic.twitter.com/0rqfThpDvQ
— Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) May 24, 2026
“Stephen Colbert’s return to Monroe in the ‘Only in Monroe’ episode was financed and produced by CBS Studios and was posted on Stephen Colbert’s YouTube channel in collaboration with Monroe Community Media and ‘The Late Show’s’ YouTube channels,” a CBS spokesperson said in a statement to Variety.
“As is our regular practice, we send copyright notices to unauthorized websites that post copyrighted content from CBS and our network/studio talent such as Stephen Colbert.
“However, for this episode, we have decided to waive further enforcement of this standard industry practice until additional review.”
Many have speculated that the move to cancel The Late Show was politically motivated, with Colbert among the most prominent critics of the Trump administration. This viewpoint was amplified by Donald Trump‘s move to share an AI-generated video of himself throwing the host into a bin when the show concluded.
Robert De Niro was unflinching when it came to Trump during his last appearance on Colbert’s talk show, referencing the unreleased files relating to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, while Bruce Springsteen also made a jab directed at him, saying Colbert was “the first guy in America who lost his show because we got a president who can’t take a joke“.