Conservative Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary tore into Stephen Colbert in a vicious tirade on CNN, calling the comedian “dumb” and “a moron.”
Colbert has traded barbs with President Donald Trump since announcing on Thursday that CBS was cancelling The Late Show. Trump celebrated the news on Friday, saying the host’s “talent was even less than his ratings.” Colbert responded in his Monday night monologue: “Go f--- yourself.”
“Here’s the problem for Colbert,” O’Leary, a Canadian businessman and regular pro-Trump panelist, said Tuesday on CNN’s NewsNight. “His contract is a payout contract through a transaction where there’s a change of control. Only a moron would tell the president to F-off before he gets his check.”
He then suggested Colbert will be fired for criticizing Trump.
“So what’s going to happen now, in my opinion, is tomorrow, CBS, his boss will fire him, and they will litigate for the next five years his payout,” he said.
Colbert on Monday also took a shot at his own network and its parent company, Paramount, for claiming the decision to cut his show was purely financial.
Paramount recently agreed to pay a $16 million to Trump’s future presidential library to settle a lawsuit, amid efforts to finalize an $8 billion merger that requires federal approval.
It’s drawn accusations that the decision was politically motivated or influenced, given Colbert’s regular and outspoken criticisms of Trump.
Trump has blasted Colbert repeatedly over the years. In September, he called for CBS to terminate his contract. “He is not funny, which he gets paid far too much to be, he is not wise, he is VERY BORING, and his show is dying from a complete lack of viewers,” Trump said on Truth Social at the time.
Echoing Trump, O’Leary argued that Colbert’s Monday night comments about his employers were “not very funny.”
“That’s the problem with him. He’s not funny,” he said. “And by the way, if the CBS bosses don’t whack him, I’ll do it for them.”
“I’d fire that guy in four seconds if I were running the show,” he added. “There. Gone! And then let him litigate for his cash.”
“That guy is dumb!” he added, shouting, “whack him! whack him!” as his fellow panelists tried to push back.
O’Leary routinely butts heads with his fellow CNN panelists. On Monday, he insisted that “nobody gives a poop” about the Jeffrey Epstein controversy consuming Trump, prompting a reality check NewsNight host Abby Phillip.
