Stephen Colbert sounds off on CBS during late-night return… while sporting Letterman-like beard months after cancellation
Stephen Colbert took a shot at his old network during his Tuesday return to late-night on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Colbert, 62, jokingly played dumb after being asked whether anyone at CBS had reached out to him to celebrate the seven Emmys he was awarded for the Late Show’s final season the night before.
‘I am not familiar with that organization. Thank you for asking,’ Colbert told Kimmel, to laughs.
The spot was Colbert’s first since CBS and parent Paramount pulled the plug on his program – a decision both Colbert and Kimmel have maintained was made for political purposes.
Colbert criticized Paramount days after it was announced his show would not be renewed last year. The company had just reached a $16 million settlement with Donald Trump, for what many saw as a baseless lawsuit. Colbert called it ‘a big fat bribe.’
CBS has said the show was canceled for financial reasons – paving the way for a coy Kimmel to ask his guest if the network had allowed him to keep his wardrobe.
‘At first, they were like, “no no no. That all goes to, like, storage. Someone else will wear your suits,”‘ Colbert remembered. He added that after showrunners ‘auctioned a bunch of them off,’ he was still afforded some ’40 suits.’
‘And they’re just sitting in a guest bedroom,’ he told Kimmel, while sporting a new, David Letterman-esque beard.
Stephen Colbert pretended like he had no clue what CBS is during his Tuesday return to late-night on Jimmy Kimmel Live
Colbert sported a beard – which was later shaved on-air – for the appearance. He is currently co-writing a film for the Lord of the Rings franchise
‘I thought I’d get like, you know, four or five suits,’ Colbert laughed.
The pair proceeded to shave Colbert’s beard on-air later in the show.
They reminisced about the heyday of late-night and the award show they both attended the night before.
‘People still do these shows?’ Colbert cracked at a point.
‘See? That’s where you should be!’ Kimmel said as Colbert sat down.
Kimmel quickly told his guest how he ‘seem[ed] like a different person’ during their reunion on Monday.
‘You seemed happier. You seemed healthier.’
‘Like I don’t drink a cup of poison every day?’ Colbert quipped. He likened his old gig to being ‘lowered like carbon rods into a radioactive pool every day’ and thrust in front of a camera.
The two spoke about the heyday of late-night and the Emmys, which they both attended the night before
‘And to irradiate it back at the audience at a nonlethal rad level.
‘That’s exactly the job description.’
An anecdote from the Emmys came next, with some more goading from Kimmel.
The host asked Colbert if he had any memory of ‘what happened’ after ‘a photographer’ approached their shared table. Also seated there were fellow late-night hosts Jon Stewart and John Oliver.
Colbert recalled with a smile: ‘The photographer came over and he goes, “Oh, look at all you guys – let’s get the one shot of all you, all you hosts together.”
‘So, we got up and got in a little circle and the guy said…’
Colbert left the punchline to Kimmel, an outspoken Trump critic.
‘And the guy said, “Oh, it’s the endangered table,”‘ Kimmel said, to mostly groans from the audience.
As producers flashed the photo that was snapped, Colbert noted: ‘And if you can see, I’m smiling, but I literally said this under my breath: “That joke’s not as funny as you think.”‘
A photo from the award show, where Colbert and Kimmel shared a table with Jon Stewart and Jon Oliver. The photographer joked it was ‘the endangered table,’ Colbert and Kimmel said. The latter has been plagued by cancellation rumors, but is currently in talks with ABC to renew
The shot at CBS was launched shortly thereafter, followed by the shaving.
Colbert was recently in New Zealand for his new ‘Lord of the Rings’ writing job.
Days before CBS announced he was being canceled, Colbert highlighted how a long-in-limbo merger between Paramount and Skydance was approved by the federal government just days after CBS’s settlement.
Kimmel, meanwhile, was briefly pulled from the air after FCC boss Brendan Carr told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson the host could face a probe for his comments last September about the suspected killer of Charlie Kirk.
His one-year contract is up in May, after 24 years on the air.
Skydance, meanwhile, was founded by former Hollywood producer David Ellison, the son of billionaire GOP donor Larry Ellison, a known Trump supporter.
Both Kimmel and Colbert are some of the President’s biggest critics.
A report from Puck after the cancellation news broke included purported insight from sources that claimed the show was losing about $40 million a year
Kimmel, in an interview with Vulture last month, said of those figures: ‘Those are just made-up numbers.’
He is currently in talks with ABC for a new contract, Puck reported last week.
