It was always going to be an emotional night. But Stephen Colbert, never one to waste a microphone, made sure his final bow at the Emmy Awards was equal parts heartfelt, funny, and quietly devastating — while also managing to moonlight as a recruitment agent.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert took home the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Series at the 2026 ceremony on 14 September at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, hosted by Mariska Hargitay. It was the show's third and final Emmy under Colbert's tenure — and, given CBS cancelled the programme earlier this year after nearly 33 years on air, almost certainly its last ever.
Hire Them — They Will Make Your Show Better
Rather than simply basking in the moment, Colbert immediately turned his acceptance speech into something more purposeful: an on-air job reference for the more than 200 staff members whose livelihoods vanished when the show was axed.
"If you like the comedy tonight, my old writers wrote it tonight," Colbert told the room. "Ariel Dumas, my head writer, is the head writer of tonight's Emmys."
He made his pitch plainly and without sentimentality: "I got some great news: They are all tech avail. Hire them. They will make your show better and they will make your day easier." It drew one of the biggest responses of the night — and understandably so. The Late Show's final episode aired on 21 May, sending hundreds of television professionals back onto an already competitive job market.
Colbert reflected on what late night television really means beyond the jokes and the ratings. "The thing about these late shows is that — besides being a really good steady job — is that they require so many people that they're a fantastic incubator for young people to come in to learn to work professionally, on a deadline, in cooperation, in collaboration," he said. "And that is the future of our business that we have to look after."
Twenty-One Years, a Thousand Guests, and One Favourite
The speech also carried the weight of a genuine goodbye. Colbert, who hosted The Late Show for 11 seasons, acknowledged the extraordinary parade of guests he'd welcomed over the years — including many of those sitting in the Peacock Theater that very evening.
"Over the last 21 years, I've interviewed at least 1,000 of you," he said. "Thank you for coming on to talk to this idiot. I want you to know that you were the perfect guest."
But it was the moment that followed that stopped the room. Colbert singled out his "one favourite guest" — not a Hollywood legend or a world leader, but his wife, Evelyn McGee.
"Thank you for being my only crew and my only guest during COVID, my only audience and the only audience I really care about. Yours is the laugh that I want for the rest of my life. I love you."
The Cancellation That Still Carries Questions
The context surrounding The Late Show's demise has never been far from the surface. CBS first informed Colbert of the cancellation in July 2025, with executives insisting it was "purely a financial decision" and "not related in any way to other matters" at parent company Paramount. The timing, however, struck many as deeply convenient.
Just days before the announcement, Colbert had accused Paramount of paying what he called "a big fat bribe" — a reference to the company's $16 million legal settlement with President Donald Trump over CBS's 2024 election coverage of a Kamala Harris interview on 60 Minutes. Trump, who had been vocal about wanting critical talk show hosts removed from air, reacted to the cancellation with visible satisfaction.
Colbert himself addressed the scepticism in an interview with The New York Times in April. "I do not dispute their rationale," he said, while also acknowledging: "I completely understand why people would say that doesn't make sense to me and that seems fishy to me. Because the network did it to themselves by bending the knee to the Trump administration."
The End of an Era
The show's May finale was a suitably star-studded affair. Colbert's fellow Strike Force Five members — Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver — joined him for the send-off, alongside guests including Sir Paul McCartney, Paul Rudd and Tim Meadows. The night culminated in Colbert, McCartney, former band leader Jon Batiste and Elvis Costello performing a sing-along of The Beatles' "Hello, Goodbye" — a moment almost too perfectly chosen to be accidental.
With The Late Show now gone, Byron Allen's Comics Unleashed is set to take over the timeslot. But on Monday night, at least, the legacy of what Colbert and his team built over more than a decade was given one last, well-earned round of applause. He signed off his Emmy speech the only way he could: "We'll catch you all on the flip."
