Stephen Colbert took the Emmys stage following “The Late Show’s” win for Outstanding Talk Series on Sunday night. His victory was one of the most celebrated of the evening, causing the crowd to erupt into chants of “Stephen.”
“Think of the children,” Colbert joked, nodding to host Nate Bargatze’s donation gimmick. He then opened up about what it was like to start his tenure on “The Late Show.”
“Ten years ago, in September of 2015, Spike Jonze stopped by my office and said, ‘Hey, what do you want this show to be about?’” Colbert said. “I said, ‘Spike, I don’t know how you could do it, but I would like to do a late night comedy show that was about love. I don’t know if I ever figured that out, but at a certain point — and you can guess what that point was — I realized that in some ways, we were doing a late night comedy show about loss.
“That’s related to love, because sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense that you might be losing it,” Colbert continued. “Ten years later, in September of 2025, my friends, I have never loved my country more desperately. God bless America. Stay strong, be brave, and if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and put to the higher floor.”
Only three shows were nominated for the category this year: Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Though Colbert’s victory was deserved, it was one of the most bittersweet moments of the evening.
In July, CBS announced it would be ending “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” as well as the entire “Late Show” franchise in March of 2026. Though this cancellation came after Colbert criticized CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global, for settling with Donald Trump over his “60 Minutes” lawsuit, Paramount insisted the axing only happened for financial reasons. The cancellation has been widely criticized throughout Hollywood, especially among those in comedy.
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