Stephen Colbert has seemingly pitched himself to Netflix and Amazon following the cancellation of The Late Show.
The late-night veteran is not shying away from the fact that he won’t have a job when his show ends in May 2026, and used the final Late Show episode before its summer hiatus to court potential new employers.
On Thursday’s episode (7 August), Colbert referenced a Daily Beast story about Vice President JD Vance allegedly requesting that the water levels of an Ohio river be raised for a birthday boat trip.
“This is such an insane, spoiled-baby emperor move that I have no choice but to break out my new character: Wittle Pwince Vance,” said Colbert as he put on a mask of Vance wearing a crown.
Adopting a childish voice, Colbert said: “Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye! I want my wiver waised for my birthday! Also, I don’t like how bwue the sky is – paint it wed! Now, give me juice box.”
Colbert then whipped off the mask, joking: “Netflix, call me. I’m available in June. I will also entertain offers from Amazon.”
The 61-year-old also used the opportunity to mockingly defend his peers, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon, after Donald Trump claimed that they could be the next late night hosts to lose their jobs.
“Colbert has no talent. [Jimmy] Fallon has no talent. [Jimmy] Kimmel has no talent. They’re next,” said Trump in a clip shown by Colbert. “They’re gonna be going. I hear they’re going to be going. I don’t know, but I would imagine, because Colbert has better ratings than Kimmel or Fallon, you know that?”
The comedian responded by saying: “I knew that, yeah, I knew that. But to be fair, I think we’re all equally untalented. Anyway, I just want to say thank you for watching, sir, and thank you for agreeing to be in our new promo.”
He then showed a fake Late Show advert, which featured Trump’s rants about the programme, which added that “Colbert is No 1 in late night. Just ask our elderly viewers”.
Colbert has long been a vocal critic of Trump. His most recent spat with the president began when Colbert claimed that Paramount’s decision to pay a $16m settlement to Trump over another CBS show, 60 Minutes, amounted to a “big fat bribe”.
Very soon after Colbert’s “bribe” comment, Paramount announced the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which will come off the air in May next year.
Trump revelled in the firing of one of his loudest detractors, posting on his Truth Social platform: “I absolutely love that Colbert was fired.”
Colbert responded by declaring that the “gloves are off”.
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