‘Fired and festive’: ‘Late Show’ host Stephen Colbert bows out

In this May 27, 2009 file photo, Stephen Colbert poses for a portrait in New York. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, file)

“The Late Show” frontman Stephen Colbert will host the final edition of the 33-year-old U.S. cultural institution on Thursday night, after it was cancelled by CBS as the network courted U.S. President Donald Trump.

The show, which Colbert has hosted since 2015, was axed after he mocked the broadcaster for a US$16 million settlement with Trump for allegedly “maliciously” editing an interview with his Democratic election rival Kamala Harris.

Colbert called it a “big fat bribe.”

CBS has insisted the decision to cancel “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the ratings leader in the time slot, was purely financial -- and that it was a coincidence the move came as CBS parent company Paramount lobbied for government approval of its $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media.

Around that time CBS brought in Bari Weiss, a right-wing journalist without significant TV experience, to run its news division.

In the weeks leading to Thursday’s curtain call, 62-year-old Colbert has at times cut a subdued figure, lacking some of his usual cheerful flair.

“Sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense you might be losing it,” Colbert said while accepting an Emmy award last year.

The identity of the final night’s guests remained a closely held secret early Thursday.

On the penultimate night, rock legend Bruce Springsteen joined the “Late Show” to sing his “Streets of Minneapolis” anti-Trump protest song and to attack the Republican leader.

“You’re the first guy in America who’s lost his show because we’ve got a president who can’t take a joke,” Springsteen told Colbert on Wednesday.

And Colbert was clearly moved when he was joined in his studio by fellow late night hosts Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver, who paid tribute in the final days.

Kimmel was briefly taken off the air in September 2025 by his network ABC after complaints about a remark he made over the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Trump has repeatedly attacked media and press freedom since returning to office, using lawsuits and regulatory threats to retaliate for unflattering news coverage and jokes.

The U.S. president has long been a fierce critic of late-night talk show hosts and their jabs at him. Trump has called Colbert a “pathetic trainwreck” who should be “put to sleep.”

One late night host bidding a less fond farewell was Greg Gutfeld of right-wing Fox News.

Asked in November about both the cancellation and Kimmel’s suspension, Gutfeld said, “Why did it take so long?”

‘Can’t take a man’s voice’

Colbert made his name playing a fictitious version of himself, embodying the type of conservative blowhard beloved by Fox News viewers -- and derided by the left.

He first played the sharp-suited but dim-witted character on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” before getting a spin-off, “The Colbert Report.”

Colbert ascended to the pinnacle of U.S. late-night TV when he was named host of the CBS flagship, shedding the character and employing his own voice.

In the weeks leading to Thursday, Colbert auctioned off a raft of props and costumes featured on the show, as well as pieces of set including a giant illuminated sign. Proceeds will go to World Central Kitchen.

Colbert has been coy about his next steps but announced he will be a writer on a forthcoming “Lord of the Rings” movie -- as well as lying down and taking a breather.

Details of the last broadcast were scant, with show insiders tight-lipped when contacted by AFP.

One guest has eluded Colbert: the pope. The host, a devout Catholic, has called the pontiff his “white whale.”

While an impromptu trip to New York seems unlikely, Pope Leo XIV’s public schedule is clear on May 21.

Colbert’s fellow late-night hosts were all due to air re-runs Thursday out of respect for Colbert’s swansong.

And the theme of the after-party? “Fired and festive!”

Ahead of the final show, Colbert brought back former “Late Show” host David Letterman who steered the ship from 1993 until 2015.

The pair ascended to the roof of the show’s Ed Sullivan Theater to throw furniture at a giant logo of CBS, describing it as “wanton destruction of CBS property.”

“You can take a man’s show,” said Letterman. “You can’t take a man’s voice.”

By Gregory Walton