Paramount announced last week that “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” would be ending in May 2026. While the company claimed the move was a purely “financial decision,” speculation has swirled over whether Colbert’s sharp criticism of Trump had anything to do with his ouster as Paramount looked to get its merger approved.

If the show loses $40 million a year, one reason for cancelling the show might be that Paramount is trying to clean up its balance sheet for the merger, which is the case in many mergers and acquisit...