Late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert was greeted with a warm and rousing standing ovation as he took the stage to present the first award of the evening at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards.
The Emmys appearance came at a complicated time for the 61-year-old comedian. Colbert is set to conclude The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in May 2026, following CBS’s announcement three months ago that the long‐running show would be cancelled, citing financial reasons. CBS is also the network showing the Emmys.
The Emmys appearance came at a complicated time for the 61-year-old comedian. The cancellation of The Late Show has drawn significant attention, especially after Colbert publicly criticized a $16 million settlement between CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, and former President Donald Trump earlier this summer. Critics and colleagues alike wondered whether the timing had implications beyond finances.
Since taking over “The Late Show” in 2015 from David Letterman, Colbert became a leading voice in political commentary, particularly during the Trump presidency. The cancellation was celebrated by President Trump, stating on his social media, “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.” Colbert, a long-time critic of the President’s, responded in kind on his show, telling Trump to “go fuck himself.”
Amid that context, Colbert’s appearance at the Emmys carried extra weight. He leveraged his stage time not just to present, but to lean into his uncertain future with clever jokes. When he asked Harrison Ford to pass his resume to Steven Spielberg, the room erupted in laughter and applause.
Colbert jokingly responded to the reception, holding up a teenage headshot and a resume, he joked, “While I have your attention, is anyone hiring? Because I’ve got 200 very well-qualified candidates with me here tonight who will be available in June.”
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