Stephen Colbert’s final episode of The Late Show contained surprisingly few references to Donald Trump, the enemy of late-night TV comedians. Colbert didn’t once name Trump explicitly, instead making subtle digs at the president.
For his final broadcast, the late-night host interviewed Sir Paul McCartney, 83. During the interview, McCartney reminisced about The Beatles’ U.S. television debut at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City, where The Late Show has been recorded since 1993. The Beatles first performed at the theater on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.
McCartney recalled to Colbert, “We’d gotten used to a little bit of makeup in England,” he said. “But we went down there, and the girls put makeup on us, and it was like bright orange.”
Without missing a beat, Colbert responded, “That’s very popular in certain circles these days.”
“We set a trend,” McCartney said.
“Now we know where it started!” Colbert quipped. “Thanks a lot, Paul McCartney!”
Meanwhile, the 79-year-old president didn’t have quite as sophisticated a response to Colbert’s final day. In the early hours of the morning, Trump posted a bitter rant on Truth Social, celebrating the end of Colbert’s Late Show run.
“Colbert is finally finished at CBS,” Trump wrote. “Amazing that he lasted so long! No talent, no ratings, no life. He was like a dead person. You could take any person off of the street and they would be better than this total jerk. Thank goodness he’s finally gone!”
The president’s rage-fueled farewell to Colbert, 62, comes days after he teased a message for the TV anchor.
Trump, his MAGA allies, and the White House have repeatedly ripped into Colbert. On Wednesday, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told the Daily Beast in an email, “Stephen Colbert is a pathetic trainwreck with no talent and terrible ratings, which is exactly why CBS canceled his show and is booting him off the airwaves.”
CBS canceled The Late Show in July 2025, days after Colbert publicly criticized Paramount, his network’s parent company, for making a $16 million settlement with the Trump administration. He described it as “a big, fat bribe.” CBS has said its cancellation of The Late Show was motivated “purely” by financial reasons.
Colbert managed to throw in a final dig at his network during his last episode. As he described a lawsuit involving the use of music from Charlie Brown and other Peanuts TV specials, the show’s band began playing the Peanuts theme music. Colbert mockingly looked into the camera and said, “Oh no, I hope this doesn’t cost CBS any money.”
The host brought down the curtain on The Late Show last night, in an episode peppered with celebrity cameos, an emotional audience, and behind-the-scenes support across the media and Hollywood.
