12 ‘Late Show’ Moments Proving Stephen Colbert Can’t Be Replaced

2015: He bonds with Joe Biden about grief

On Colbert’s third-ever episode, he interviewed then-Vice President Joe Biden, who had expressed doubt about running for president following the death of his son Beau. Colbert, as Biden pointed out, was no stranger to grief, having lost his father and two brothers in a 1974 plane crash. And in that episode, the two men commiserated about perseverance born from necessity.

2015: He plays hardball with Donald Trump

After Fallon caught flak for a softball interview with Donald Trump, Colbert went the opposite direction, grilling the then-presidential candidate on his views about immigration, the U.S.-Mexico border, and Barack Obama’s birthplace. He also gave Trump an open mic to issue apologies, but the former Apprentice star refused.

2018: He tears up listening to Helen Mirren read Tennyson

Colbert seems to always be in touch with his emotions, as proven in 2018 when guest Helen Mirren read the poem “Ulysses” by Alfred Lord Tennyson on The Late Show. As Mirren read the verses with theatrical vigor, Colbert listened close, his chest heaving and his eyes brimming with tears.

2018: He discusses the sexual misconduct allegations facing his boss

In July 2018, as then-CBS Corporation Chairman Les Moonves came under fire for alleged sexual misconduct and intimidation, Colbert wasn’t afraid to put his network’s leadership in the crosshairs.

“I do believe in accountability and not just for politicians you disagree with,” he said on the show. “Everybody believes in accountability until it’s their guy, and, make no mistake, Les Moonves is my guy. He hired me to sit in this chair. He stood behind this show while we were finding our voice. He gave us the time and the resources to succeed, and he has stood by us when people were mad at me. And I like working for him. But accountability is meaningless unless it’s for everybody, whether it’s for the leader of a network or the leader of the free world.”

2020: He quotes ‘The Hound of Heaven’ to Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Colbert had Phoebe Waller-Bridge “completely blown away” when he theorized that the mysterious fox in her show Fleabag was the “Hound of Heaven” from the Francis Thompson poem of that name. Then he began recounting lines from the 1890 ode: “Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest, [I am He] Whom thou seekest! Thou dravest love from thee, who dravest Me.”

Astonished, Waller-Bridge said, “I can’t believe you’re just reciting it like this!”

2021: He joins Christine Baranski in a Sondheim duet

Colbert isn’t just a fan of epic fantasy novels (more on that below) and 19th-century poetry; he’s also a musical theater buff. And when Christine Baranski returned to the show post-lockdown, she and Colbert performed “Side by Side by Side” — a show tune from Stephen Sondheim’s Company, a musical in which they’ve both performed — side by side, with Batiste providing piano accompaniment.

2021: He proves his encyclopedic Lord of the Rings knowledge

Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, and Peter Jackson gave Colbert a Lord of the Rings quiz on The Late Show in 2021. Colbert proved that when it comes to LOTR lore, he is a leader of men, answering all but one ent-errogation correctly.

2021: He allows Andrew Garfield a monologue about grief and art

Andrew Garfield lost his mother to cancer before he filmed Tick, Tick… Boom!, and on The Late Show, Colbert asked the actor how art helped him through his grief. And then Colbert let Garfield wax philosophic, uninterrupted, for two and a half minutes. The actor explained how grief is unexpressed love and how art — including that of Colbert and his then-bandleader, Jon Batiste — “sew[s] up our wounds.”

2024: He defends Kristen Stewart’s Rolling Stone cover

When Kristen Stewart sat down for a Late Show interview in March 2024, Colbert told the audience CBS didn’t want him showing her just-released Rolling Stone cover photo, an image of her with her hand down her jock strap. “They thought that would be not a good idea for us to show this, and I don’t know understand why,” Colbert said, sounding genuinely baffled.

Stewart said, “I think there’s a certain overt acknowledgment of a female sexuality that has its own volition in a way that is annoying for people who are sexist and homophobic.”

And Colbert said, “I’ve certainly seen more revealing covers on Rolling Stone, or Sports Illustrated, for that matter. … I think it also violates public expectations of female sexuality, as opposed to how you’re presenting it here.”

2024: He denounces violence in politics

Colbert is no fan of Trump, but he condemned the attempt on the then-2024 presidential nominee’s life in Pennsylvania. “My immediate reaction[s] when I saw this on Saturday were horror at what was unfolding, relief that Donald Trump had lived, and, frankly, grief for my beautiful country,” he said. “Our job as American citizens is to reject violence and violent rhetoric in this time of crisis, however hard we want to fight for our ideas. And in that regard, not only is violence evil, it is useless.”

2025: He calls out Paramount Global for settling with Trump

Just days before CBS announced The Late Show’s cancellation, Colbert criticized parent company Paramount Global for paying Trump $16 million to settle his 60 Minutes lawsuit ahead of the company’s merger with Skydance Media.

“As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I am offended,” the host said. “And I don’t know if anything will ever repair my trust in this company, but just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would help.”