In a fiery escalation of the ongoing media bloodbath, comedy heavyweights Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart unleashed a blistering defense of their smash-hit independent show Unfiltered: The Undeniables, firing back at CNN and New York Times pundits who branded the unscripted political roast “irresponsible” and a threat to civil discourse. With subscriber numbers exploding past 5 million in just two weeks, the duo’s no-holds-barred takedown—calling out “corporate chokeholds” on free speech—has only supercharged their rebel broadcast, leaving legacy outlets scrambling as audiences flock to the raw, ad-free alternative.

NEW YORK—When Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart decided to flip the bird at the network suits and launch their own unfiltered media empire, they didn’t just break free—they lit a match under the whole damn industry. Two weeks ago, on November 17, 2025, Unfiltered: The Undeniables dropped its debut episode like a grenade in a glass house: 90 minutes of zero-guardrails satire, where the late-night legends eviscerated everything from Trump’s latest tariff tantrum to Big Tech’s AI overlords, all without a single bleep, edit, or advertiser veto. Hosted via a slick subscription platform that pulls in $9.99 a month from a growing army of fed-up viewers, the show has already racked up 5.2 million subs—outpacing Netflix’s latest true-crime flop—and viral clips that have TikTok in a frenzy.

But not everyone’s toasting the triumph. The backlash hit like clockwork from the ivory towers of legacy media. On November 28, The New York Times unleashed an editorial gut-punch titled “The Perils of Punchline Anarchy,” where media columnist Ben Smith warned that Colbert and Stewart’s “rhetorical extremism” was “fomenting toxic polarization” by ditching the “guardrails of responsible journalism.” Smith didn’t hold back: “In an era of deepening divides, platforms like The Undeniables aren’t just entertainment—they’re accelerants, rewarding outrage over oversight and echo chambers over enlightenment.” CNN piled on the next day during a primetime panel on Reliable Sources 2.0, where anchor Brian Stelter grilled guests on how the show’s “lack of fact-checking filters” could “embolden misinformation peddlers.” One analyst, a former MSNBC exec, sneered, “This isn’t comedy; it’s chaos. Colbert and Stewart are playing with fire, and the burn marks will be on democracy.”

The timing? Ironic as hell. This comes hot on the heels of a brutal year for broadcast titans, with CBS axing The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in July 2025 amid whispers of Trump-era payback—Colbert’s relentless Trump roasts allegedly tanked ad revenue, leading to a $16 million settlement with the ex-prez that Stewart later slammed as “extortion dressed as corporate prudence.” Stewart’s own The Daily Show stint has been a revolving door of guest hosts since his 2024 return fizzled under Paramount’s cost-cutting knife. Enter The Undeniables: a lean, mean streaming machine born from that ashes, funded purely by fans who crave the unvarnished truth bombs the duo honed on Comedy Central stages.

Colbert and Stewart didn’t let the slings and arrows slide. In a scorching 15-minute opener to the December 1 episode—titled “Gatekeepers Gonna Gatekeep”—they turned the tables, roasting their critics with the precision of a scalpel-wielding surgeon. Colbert, sporting his signature bowtie like armor, leaned into the camera with that deadpan glare: “They say we’re ‘irresponsible.’ We say, thank you for the compliment! That’s exactly what happens when you remove responsibility to shareholders, advertisers, and the Federal Communications Commission. No more bending over backward for Procter & Gamble’s pearl-clutching. On The Undeniables, we serve the people—not the sponsors.” The studio crowd (a packed Brooklyn warehouse doubling as their no-frills set) erupted, with one clip of Colbert mimicking Stelter’s furrowed brow already at 3 million views on X.

Stewart, ever the philosopher-clown, took it deeper, pacing like a caged lion as he dismantled the “fear-mongering from the Fourth Estate’s fossil fuel era.” “The Times and CNN are extensions of corporate structures that fundamentally fear anything they can’t control,” he thundered, his Brooklyn growl cutting through the haze of dry ice effects. “Our subscribers pay us for the truth, not for the version of the truth that keeps the deodorant ads happy. They don’t fear our jokes; they fear free speech that doesn’t clear a compliance department, because they know that kind of freedom is undeniable.” He paused for effect, then dropped the hammer: “Ben Smith wants ‘civic responsibility’? Tell that to the Times owners who spiked stories on their billionaire pals. And Brian? Your ‘measured journalism’ measured exactly how much airtime Elon Musk got unchallenged last week?”

The segment was pure gold—equal parts hilarious and harrowing. Stewart pulled up a split-screen montage: clips of NYT headlines burying leads on corporate scandals juxtaposed with The Undeniables‘ takedown of the same, sans spin. Colbert chimed in with a mock eulogy for “network neutrality”: “Here lies the FCC Fairness Doctrine—strangled by lobbyists and revived only when it suits the narrative. Rest in pieces.” By the end, the duo had flipped the script, inviting viewers to “subscribe to the revolution” with a promo code that netted 250,000 new sign-ups in 24 hours. Critics called it “defiant demagoguery”; fans dubbed it “the mic drop of the decade.”

This isn’t just personal—it’s a seismic shift in how we consume comedy and commentary. The Undeniables operates on a shoestring: a rotating cast of writers from their old teams, filmed in a converted loft with drone cams for that gritty, guerrilla vibe. No green rooms, no cue cards—just two icons riffing off headlines, guest spots from rogue journalists (think Glenn Greenwald trading barbs with Bari Weiss), and deep dives into the absurdities of 2025’s news cycle. One episode’s viral bit? A puppet-show parody of CNN’s election night meltdown, complete with strings visibly yanked by “Mystery Donor X.” Another? Stewart’s unhinged rant on AI deepfakes, where he “debated” a Colbert hologram programmed to spout Fox News talking points. Ratings? Forget Nielsen—Spotify for Podcasters metrics show 12 million streams per episode, with demographics skewing younger and more diverse than The Daily Show‘s glory days.

The corporate counterpunch has been frantic. Post-segment, The Times fired off a snippy response piece, with an anonymous op-ed writer accusing the duo of “hypocritical hubris” for monetizing “unfettered fury.” CNN’s Stelter dedicated a full hour to “The Dangers of Digital Demagogues,” trotting out academics who linked unfiltered content to a supposed 15% spike in online vitriol (citing a dubious Berkeley study). Even Paramount—still smarting from the Colbert cancellation—leaked memos to Variety hinting at “legal reviews” of the show’s IP usage, a not-so-subtle nod to their old contracts. But here’s the rub: The Undeniables is bulletproof. As an indie venture under Stewart’s Busboy Productions and Colbert’s Spartina banner, it’s free from the FCC’s broadcast shackles and ad-boycott threats. Subscribers get perks like bonus “uncut confessions” pods, where the hosts spill on everything from Colbert’s post-CBS therapy sessions to Stewart’s beef with podcast bros.

Supporters are rallying like it’s 2003 all over again. On X, #UndeniableTruth trended worldwide, with 1.2 million posts praising the show as “the antidote to sanitized slop.” Fellow travelers like John Oliver tweeted solidarity: “If Colbert and Stewart are ‘irresponsible,’ sign me up for the blame game—my bats are jealous.” Seth Meyers, still grinding on NBC’s skeletal late-night slate, dedicated a monologue to “the brave new world where comics don’t need permission to punch up.” And in a delicious twist, The Washington Post‘s media desk—ironically owned by Jeff Bezos—ran a glowing profile calling The Undeniables “the unfiltered future of funny,” much to the NYT‘s chagrin.

Yet beneath the laughs lurks a darker undercurrent: the erosion of trust in institutions. Polls from Pew Research in late November show 68% of Americans now view mainstream media as “corporate puppets,” up from 52% in 2024—a stat Stewart weaponized in his rebuttal: “We’re not the problem; we’re the symptom. You built the cage; we’re just picking the lock.” For Colbert, it’s personal redemption after CBS’s “betrayal,” as he called it in a raw aside: “I spent a decade roasting the powerful, only to get served by the powerless execs. This? This is payback—with interest.”

As the dust settles—or rather, as the subscriptions surge—the media war rages on. The Undeniables has already teased a holiday special: “Yuletide Yuks: Unwrapping the Grinch Who Stole Free Speech,” promising cameos from disgruntled ex-network stars. Will CNN and The Times double down, or will they court the kings of uncensored with contrite interviews? One thing’s clear: In a landscape littered with canceled dreams and algorithm overlords, Colbert and Stewart aren’t just surviving—they’re thriving, proving that when you strip away the filters, the truth doesn’t just shine; it scorches.

For now, the gatekeepers are gatecrashing their own party, but the people? They’re tuning in, laughing harder, and voting with their wallets. Free speech might be messy, but as Stewart quipped, “It’s the only mess worth making.” Catch the next episode before the critics try to cancel it too.