CBS News President Refused to Cover Stephen Colbert’s Final ‘Late Night’ Episode on ‘CBS Mornings’

Funnyman Stephen Colbert‘s final Late Show episode was ignored on-air by colleagues on CBS Mornings on orders from network news honcho Tom Cibrowski, sources say.

The daytime show’s emcees, Gayle King, Nate Burleson and fill-in host Major Garrett, zipped their lips and didn’t cover the end of Colbert’s 11-year run. King, however, did gush on her personal Instagram account: “I can’t imagine late night without Stephen @colbert.”

Insiders told Daily Mail the directive was issued because CBS News President Cibrowski was rubbed the wrong way by a May 14 Late Show sketch that mocked the network’s Evening News anchor, Tony Dokoupil, for failing to obtain a visa in time for President Donald Trump‘s state visit to China and instead broadcasting from nearly 1,000 miles away in Taiwan.

The clip depicted Dokoupil as a man with a pumpkin on his head, along with the description “live from wrong China,” and skewered CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss by portraying her as a baseball bat–wielding biddy, as reported by Daily Mail.

But sources say the apparent dust-up is just one of many problems piling up at the Tiffany Network as Weiss revamps the ratings-challenged news division — changes that critics have characterized as shifting to appease conservatives.

According to The New York Post, Dokoupil’s CBS Evening News managed to attract 4 million viewers for the first time in weeks during the five-day period that ended May 22 — but still trailed its broadcast rivals on ABC and NBC.

Meanwhile, 60 Minutes — the storied CBS newsmagazine — has experienced a talent drain. Correspondent Anderson Cooper recently left after nearly two decades, claiming he wanted more time with his kids, and journalist Sharyn Alfonsi‘s contract was not renewed, The New York Times reported — causing her to depart nearly six months after her segment on a brutal Salvadoran prison housing U.S.-deported Venezuelans was temporarily pulled, a move that she alleged was made for “political” reasons.

Citing three iconic CBS figures, another viewer said on Reddit, “Murrow, Cronkite and Paley are rolling in their graves.”