URGENT message from David Pakman!
from David Pakman
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Because something massive just happened.
CBS canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert—the highest-rated late-night show in America. Not because it wasn’t winning, and not because of some on-set scandal.
The show was pulled just days after Colbert dared to call a Trump settlement a “big fat bribe.” That settlement? Paramount—CBS’s parent company—paid $16 million to make a lawsuit about a 60 Minutes segment go away. It was a “defensive” move, they said. Not a win for Trump in court—but a clear message that lawsuits, even frivolous ones, can silence critics.
And now, Trump is threatening that Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon are next.
This isn’t just TV drama. This is a blueprint. A new kind of censorship. And it's coming straight from the MAGA right.
Step 1: Sue a network over coverage you don’t like.
Step 2: Settle, ideally with a public apology.
Step 3: Leverage corporate mergers and FCC scrutiny to pressure executives.
Step 4: Cancel or marginalize the critic.
Welcome to their cancel culture.
You’ve heard them complain for years that it’s the “left” that silences dissent. But it turns out the real threat is coming from within their own playbook. Sue, settle, silence. Rinse and repeat. It’s not hypothetical—it just took out one of the most recognizable progressive voices on late-night television.
The message to the rest of the media is clear: say the quiet part out loud about Trump, and you might be next.
This is exactly why independent media matters.
The David Pakman Show is directly supported by viewers and listeners like you. That means there’s no network to “pull the plug.” No corporate sponsor to suddenly ghost us because of a pressure campaign. No executive suite forced to choose between truth-telling and an FCC-approved merger.
Sure—they can still try to sue us, silence us, or even revoke my naturalized citizenship. But we don’t answer to billion-dollar boardrooms.
We answer to you.
If you’ve ever thought, “I just want someone to keep saying what needs to be said,” that’s us. But we can’t keep doing it without your support.
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MAGA cancel culture is real—and it’s coming for the press. But they can’t cancel what they don’t control.
Let’s keep building.
—David
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This isn’t just about Colbert. It’s about conditioning the public to expect silence when power is threatened.
I spent years watching how narrative control works from inside the system and what we’re seeing now isn’t censorship in the traditional sense. It’s a hostile merger between legal strategy, corporate fear, and public exhaustion.
You sue. You pay. You shut it down. Then you wait for the outrage to fade.
What Pakman’s naming here is a pattern. What’s coming next is more dangerous: a country where the truth isn’t just expensive, no, it’s unaired. Unrenewed. Quietly removed.
I’m currently writing through how the culture that accepted these tactics evolved.
I just wanted to reach out and say I really appreciate your work, especially your focus on how MAGA is actively trying to silence media voices that challenge their narrative.
I’ve been making some waves online for my sharp criticism of MAGA and the authoritarian grip they’re tightening around the country. I’m a relatively small creator with just 6.7k followers, but somehow my Substack ended up on Media Bias/Fact Check. The write-up is odd, it labels my reporting as “mixed” solely because I choose to stay anonymous. There’s no mention of inaccuracies or errors in my content, just that anonymity apparently lowers factual credibility now.
It’s a subtle but clear example of how alternative, independent voices are being delegitimized, even without direct attacks. Just thought I’d share, since I know you're tracking how this pressure is showing up in different ways.
Thanks for what you’re doing, your work is a needed voice right now.