Stephen Colbert is opening up about his next chapter after CBS canceled his late night show.
In a new interview with GQ, which was conducted shortly before The Late Show With Stephen Colbert won big at the 2025 Emmy Awards, Colbert, 61, said he “accepted” the network’s decision to pull the plug on his show.
“Listen, every show’s got to end at some time,” Colbert told GQ. “And I’ve been on a bunch of shows that have ended sometimes by our lights and sometimes by the decision of other people. And that’s just the nature of show business. You can’t worry about that. You got to be a big boy about that. But I think we’re the first number one show to ever get canceled.”
When the interviewer noted how long Colbert has “been attaching [his] mouth to the exhaust pipe of news,” the comedian quipped, “That sounds vaguely suicidal.”
Colbert continued, “‘You’ve been running your car in the closed garage of media for 20 years, are you getting a little woozy?’ Yeah, I’m getting a little woozy. Listen, it’s possible that George Cheeks [at the time, co-CEO of Paramount and the president and CEO of CBS] saved my life. I’ll get a little oxygen back into my brain.”
Jokes aside, Colbert made it clear he loved the gig. “I love what we do and I love the grind,” he said. “You can only do one of these shows, do the jokes every night, year after year for 20 years, if you give a damn at all about what you’re talking about. And I do. But there is a sense of relief that I might not have to put on the snorkel and get into the sewer every day.”
News broke in July that The Late Show With Stephen Colbert is ending in May 2026. “It’s not just the end of our show, but it’s the end of The Late Show on CBS. I’m not being replaced,” Colbert said in a clip from a live taping. “This is all just going away. I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners … And I’m grateful to the audience, you, who have joined us every night, in here, out there, and all around the world.”
CBS noted in a statement at the time that the decision was purely “financial” and wasn’t “related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount,” adding, “We are proud that Stephen called CBS home.”
While speaking to GQ, Colbert insisted that he’s had a “great relationship” with the network since his version of The Late Show began in 2015.
“It’s one of the reasons why this was so surprising and so shocking that there was no preamble to this,” he continued. “We do budgets and everything like that. We’ve done cuts and stuff like that. So that’s why it was surprising to me, as I said, but I meant what I said [on air] the next night after I found out, because I couldn’t sit on it. They’ve been great partners. They really have. They’ve been very supportive.”
Colbert reiterated that he’s maintaining a “professional” perspective despite what the public might think about what happened behind the scenes. (Days before the cancellation news, Colbert called out Paramount, CBS’ parent company, for reaching a $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump.)
“But my side of the street is clean and I have no interest in picking up a broom or adding to refuse on the other side of the street. Not my problem,” he explained. “So people can have their theories. I have my feelings about not doing the show anymore, but you’d have to show me why that’s a fruitful relationship for me to have with my network for the next nine months, for me to engage in that speculation.”
Despite feeling relieved about disengaging from the headlines, Colbert said he’ll “miss the ability to go out there and make jokes” about what’s in the news. “I will miss every aspect of my job other than wearing makeup,” he teased.
As for what’s next, Colbert doesn’t think he’ll leave show business behind for good — but he won’t be lost without late night.
“I know who I am without this,” he told the outlet. “I didn’t do any of this until I was 41. I got the Colbert Report when I was 41. I was really old to get one of these jobs. And then by the time I got this gig, which I never planned on because I’m not a standup, I’m not from the background that usually gets one of these gigs. And I was 51 when I took it. That’s really old for somebody — it’s not really old, but you know what I mean. It’s late to take it. So that is only to say, I was married with all my children before I was Stephen Colbert, that anybody would know. And my identity is associated with that. And the family I grew up with and my faith.”
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