The Missing Context

Need to clarify some things...

WOW what a bummer.

Trying my best to correct the tone of this no good, very bad headline that in no way reflects how I actually feel about the cancellation of The Late Show? This sucks so badly.

I wouldn’t even address it, except that I literally KNOW people who work at The Late Show, and I am so embarrassed for this conversation to have been characterized in this way?

I actually feel that Tom and I talked about it with care and nuance, so to be condensed to this? Like literally who is this for? People who truly want to believe that I am an irredeemable bitch in every aspect of my life and thought?

“Look at that! She really IS a battle axe!”

Do people EVER listen to full clips?? The answer is, I guess, no. To that extent, please check out the episode if you are interested.

Truly, I’ve lost my stomach for this bullshit. Even knowing that this is floating around gives me some type of entertainment industry ptsd in the worst way.

I am so sorry to have hurt Stephen, all the people who work over there, and just in general anybody whose lives have been negatively impacted by a corporate merger. I forgot that when a corporate merger is at stake, all things take a seat so far to the back we fall out of the trunk and into a ditch.

Literally wrote this in my Monday newsletter.

“Stephen Colbert getting canceled. I just feel awful about this on about a million different levels. I know so many incredibly talented and wonderful people over there, and just UGH. Terrible. Really wishing legacy Hollywood media was a little LESS satisfied by the party line that certain economic realities made the show impossible to keep going, and a little MORE outraged by how obvious it was that this decision was made to placate both our Authoritarian Overlords and our billionaire business class, who never met a merger they didn’t jizz over.* Sure the show was losing money, and this will eventually get you kicked off the air. HOWEVER, canceling it when they did, in the way that they did, sure made that merger slide through like a hot knife in butter and oh would you look at that, it took roughly *6* days for the FCC to approve. Just like magic! I guess I just wish it was possible to sustain outrage over any single issue for slightly longer than 6 days.”

Feels to me like the entertainment press is *possibly* taking a little too much joy covering these events, as though they aren’t watching the industry they cover incinerate itself in a dumpster fire.

Like even as the red lines keep moving, and Presidential-slash-corporate influence over creatives becomes increasingly oppressive - I’M STILL ROOTING FOR US, ya know???

OK I’m off my high horse.

Back to Battle-axin’

Xo,

Sam