Stephen Colbert breaks social media silence after end of ‘Late Show’
Stephen Colbert has been laying low since he bid farewell to “The Late Show” in May. But two months later, he has returned to Instagram to share a sweet message for a beloved family member.
In a Sunday, July 19, Instagram post, Colbert wished his dog, Benny, a happy seventh birthday.
The Boykin spaniel has stolen the spotlight on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” a few times since he made his debut as a puppy on the CBS show in December 2019. An excited Benny, wearing a red leash, sat on Colbert’s lap as the crowd chanted “Benny!”
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Colbert previously detailed a typical day with a set visit from Benny during a January 2025 episode of “The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert.”
©Scott Kowalchyk, CBS
Late-night TV fans are bidding farewell to Stephen Colbert and “The Late Show.” After CBS canceled the late-night show, “The Late Show” aired its final episode May 21, 2026. Get an inside look at the emotional photos from Colbert’s last show.
Here, Colbert waves to the applauding crowd in the studio during the May 21 finale.
Benny would “sit in the same chair every time” and “sits up like a human” during rehearsals, Colbert said.
His dog “looks so intently that it really looks like he’s about to give me notes, and I wish he would,” the comedian added.
Colbert, a J. R. R. Tolkien superfan who is writing a new film in the “Lord of the Rings” franchise with his son, has made a few public appearances since he took his final bow after 11 years at the Ed Sullivan Theater on May 21.
A day after “The Late Show’s” finale, he stopped by a Michigan public access show to guest host because, as he joked, “It’s been an excruciating 23 hours without being on TV.”
Then in June, Colbert returned to the stage to celebrate his wife of 32 years, Evelyn McGee Colbert, stepping down as president of the New Jersey nonprofit organization Montclair Film.
Stephen Colbert was among the lineup of friends and loved ones who offered tributes to McGee Colbert, with the former late-night host serenading her with Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home to Me.”
