Stephen Colbert sat down with the New York Times to reflect on The Late Show's May 21 finale, and he revealed something the network hadn't publicly acknowledged. Something changed in how CBS viewed the show over the past few years, Colbert said. The late-night host stopped short of spelling out what that shift entailed, though he often riffs about the cancellation during tapings. CBS previously framed the decision as a natural conclusion to the show's run. But Colbert's comments suggest the network's relationship to his program cooled at some point, creating distance between the host and his home for years. With less than a month remaining before his final episode airs, Colbert seems ready to dig into the messier truth about what led to this ending. He's not bitter about it on air. That's the Colbert brand, after all. But in the Times, he's offering something rarer: a straight answer about why even a massive late-night institution eventually runs its course.