The Writers Guild of America referred to as for Paramount to be investigated for bribery by the New York state legal professional common following Thursday’s announcement that “The Late Present With Stephen Colbert” has been canceled.

Within the assertion, the labor union says it has “important considerations” that the transfer could have been supposed to bribe the Trump administration into approving Paramount’s pending acquisition by Skydance. Colbert is a frequent critic of Trump, having referred to Paramount’s current $16 million settlement with Donald Trump as “a giant fats bribe” solely three days earlier than the cancellation.

Learn the assertion in full under.

On July 2nd, Paramount agreed to settle a baseless lawsuit introduced in opposition to 60 Minutes and CBS Information by President Trump for $16 million. On July 15, throughout a daily present of The Late Present with Stephen Colbert, Colbert went on-air and referred to as the settlement a “massive fats bribe” in change for a positive choice on the proposed merger between Paramount and Skydance, a cost presently below investigation in California.

Lower than 48 hours later, on July 17, Paramount canceled The Late Present with Stephen Colbert, a present presently performing first in its timeslot, giving imprecise references to this system’s “monetary efficiency” as the one clarification. For ten years, the present has been one of the vital profitable, beloved and worthwhile applications on CBS, entertaining an viewers of hundreds of thousands on late evening tv, on streaming companies and throughout social media.

Given Paramount’s current capitulation to President Trump within the CBS Information lawsuit, the Writers Guild of America has important considerations that The Late Present’s cancelation is a bribe, sacrificing free speech to curry favor with the Trump Administration as the corporate appears for merger approval.

Cancelations are a part of the enterprise, however an organization terminating a present in dangerous religion attributable to express or implicit political strain is harmful and unacceptable in a democratic society. Paramount’s choice comes in opposition to a backdrop of relentless assaults on a free press by President Trump, via lawsuits in opposition to CBS and ABC, threatened litigation of media organizations with essential protection, and the unconscionable defunding of PBS and NPR.

The Writers Guild of America calls on New York State Legal professional Common Letitia James, no stranger to prosecuting Trump for unlawful enterprise practices, to affix California and launch an investigation into potential wrongdoing at Paramount. We name on our elected leaders to carry these accountable to account, to demand solutions about why this beloved program was canceled and to guarantee the general public that Colbert and his writers weren’t censored attributable to their views or the whims of the President.

Within the meantime, the Writers Guild of America will help our members at The Late Present with Stephen Colbert and throughout the late-night business as they converse fact to energy and we’ll discover all potential authorized and political avenues to battle for our members within the aftermath of this choice.