Stephen Colbert says he feels healthier and happier now that he’s no longer hosting “The Late Show,” which aired its final episode in May after CBS announced in 2025 it was canceling the program.
In an interview on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Tuesday, Jimmy Kimmel told Colbert he seemed like a changed man since leaving the nightly grind.
“When I saw you last night, I felt like you, I don’t know, you just seemed like a different person. You seemed happier, you seemed healthier,” Kimmel said.
Colbert responded with a joke that turned into a pointed comparison of the job itself.
“Like I don’t drink a cup of poison every day?” Colbert said. “The old gig, as I remember, was that, to be lowered like carbon rods into a radioactive pool every day. And then to be pulled out and put in front of a camera. And to radiate it back at the audience at a non-lethal rad level.”
Asked whether he ever thinks about the show, Colbert said no.
“I have an opportunity to not think about the news every day, and I took it,” Colbert said.
Newsbusters managing editor Curtis Huock offered a critical take on the exchange in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying it was ironic that a host known for anti-Trump commentary now seems happier away from it.
“Oh, the irony that someone from the left charged with spewing daily, anti-Trump missives feels happier that he’s not engaged in grand delusions. It’s almost as if having a life and hobbies outside of hating Trump and half the country is better for the soul. I, for one, am glad that Stephen appears to be getting the help he needs,” Huock said. “This should be a lesson to the rest of the country: Never let politics completely consume your life. It sure seems as though Colbert actually touched grass and likes what he felt.”
Emmy win and questions about the cancellation
“The Late Show” won Outstanding Variety Series at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, months after its final broadcast. Asked afterward about free speech and the future of late-night television, Colbert said he remained upbeat about the genre.
“If you can’t say something because you go to jail, that is a violation of free speech,” Colbert said. “I think that late night is just as funny and just as vital as it ever has been, and I love watching Jimmy and Jimmy and John and John and Seth and everybody else. And I think I hope it goes on for a long time because you get to work with people like this, and that’s the greatest gift.”
When CNN correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister pressed Colbert on whether he believed his show was canceled because of former President Trump, Colbert repeatedly sidestepped the question with jokes, according to a report from Variety describing the post-Emmys interview with Wagmeister and Variety co-president and co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh.
“What … Gayle, that’s a beautiful dress,” Colbert said, before adding, “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m deaf on this ear. What did you … what did you say?”
When the question was raised again, Colbert deflected once more.
“You wanted to know who the most important member of my staff was? It’s me,” Colbert said.
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