David Letterman Joins Stephen Colbert in 'Wanton Destruction of CBS Property' Ahead of 'The Late Show' Finale

After CBS announced the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show, which is set to air its final episode on May 21, David Letterman appeared on its Thursday, May 14, episode to celebrate the show.

Letterman’s appearance carried a special meaning, since he originally hosted The Late Show from 1993 to 2015 before Colbert took over.

Meanwhile, a week ahead of the final episode of The Late Show, Colbert and Letterman went to the top of the CBS studio at the Ed Sullivan Theater, and threw off a few pieces of set furniture.

This comes after Letterman slammed CBS executives and called them “lying weasels.”

During their chaotic segment at the Ed Sullivan Theater, Letterman climbed to the roof of the famous venue alongside Colbert, and began throwing pieces of set furniture onto the CBS eyemark logo.

“I thought maybe tonight’s occasion would be a little sad, being the end of your run here, but this brings true joy to my heart. We are up here for the wanton destruction of CBS property,” Letterman joked with Colbert.

Colbert then revealed that network executives had warned him not to throw anything off the roof when he first took over the show.

“One of the first things they told me before we even moved into the offices is that I would not be allowed to throw anything off of the roof of the Ed Sullivan building,” Colbert said.

He added, “because evidently there was a problem with a previous tenant. I never did it, but we’re at the end here, so all bets are off.”

The pair tossed two guest chairs, Colbert’s desk chair, watermelons and even a cake from the rooftop during the segment.

Letterman then concluded the segment by sharing parting words for CBS, “I’d like to say to the audience before we go, 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 [expletive].”

Meanwhile, after CBS previously announced the decision to cancel Colbert’s The Late Show last year, the television broadcasting company said that it was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount.”

However, Letterman rejected that explanation during an interview with The New York Times. He strongly criticized CBS for the cancellation and branded CBS executives as “lying weasels.”

Letterman further alleged that the late-night talk show was taken down for other reasons.

“He was dumped because the people selling the network to Skydance said, ‘Oh no, there’s not going to be any trouble with that guy. We’re going to take care of the show. We’re just going to throw that into the deal. When will the ink on the check dry,'” Letterman said.

“I’m just going to go on record as saying: They’re lying,” he added.

Further, when Colbert was asked about the cancellation on the Strike Force Five podcast alongside fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, John Oliver and Jimmy Fallon, the 62-year-old said, “something changed,” because less than two years before the decision to cancel the show, CBS had approached him to sign for a long time.

“The rising tide of emotion has reached my chin, and now the only thing to do is take a deep breath and swim like h*ll to May 21st,” Colbert said.

“My son graduates college on the 18th. My show ends on the 21st. My brother gets married on the 23rd. So, I’m kind of sandwiched between things,” he stated.

Colbert also shared his opinion on how the staff is expected to be treated after the cancellation.

He revealed that staff members would quickly leave after the final episode, adding, “We got to get our s--t out of here.” The host added, “No one’s got a job after that night. I think the next day, everyone’s fired.”