Tim Brando vs. Cousin Sal over a Stephen Colbert image Credit: CBS, Fox Sports, ABC
By Sean Keeley on

CBS’s cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert would have been shocking on its own.

That it happened in the wake of parent company Paramount’s settlement with President Donald Trump, which Colbert had called “a big fat bribe” just a day earlier, gave it a much more chilling effect.

CBS claims the decision is purely financially motivated, and it’s true that The Late Show lost money for the network. However, many people have been connecting the dots, especially given that Colbert has long been a vocal critic of Trump.

It’s one of those situations where everyone has an opinion, even if those opinions tend to be pretty predictable along ideological lines.

Fox Sports broadcaster Tim Brando is among those who had thoughts on the decision, sharing on X that canceling Colbert’s show was “long overdue.”

“Long overdue imo,” Brando wrote on X Friday. “I enjoyed David Letterman as much as anyone but towards the end he became politically pompous and Colbert who was actually funny once on the Daily Show was totally unwatchable when he took over The Late Show. @jimmykimmel another once funny guy is disgusting too!”

That extra bit about ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel seemed to catch the attention of “Cousin Sal” Iacono, Kimmel’s cousin, a member of the Jimmy Kimmel Live! writing staff, a regular guest on The Bill Simmons Podcast, and longtime podcaster in his own right. He and Brando were also once coworkers, as Iacono was on Fox Bet Live between 2018 and 2022.

Despite that connection, Cousin Sal didn’t take too kindly to Brando’s slights of Colbert and Kimmel.

“We should all listen to @TimBrando,” he wrote in a quote of Brando’s post. “The guy can work 100 years in this business and still not provide one entertaining television moment. In fact – that’s exactly what he’s done. Keep up the purposeless work, Tim.”

Brando responded, saying, “Oh Cousin Sal I’ve been here longer than ya like and will be for quite a while to come I’m afraid. If you hate it that much, it makes me love it even MORE!” To which Sal quoted with “Great stuff, Blando” and a thumbs up emoji. 

Brando got the last word and last thumbs-up emoji, for now.

“Lotta critical references made thru the years towards me that mattered. This, is not one of them,” he wrote. “Sal you keep doing what ya do, and I’ll just utilize my bland approach to annoy the …t outta you. I had a great day yesterday. Hope you did too! Enjoyed the dialogue.”

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

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