Stephen Colbert has returned to late night in a special guest appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s show.
Colbert, 62, has not appeared in a late slot since the cancelation of his eponymous CBS show, which aired its final episode in May.
When Kimmel told the former host he looked “happier” and “healthier” at Monday’s Emmy Awards — during which Colbert won a trophy for the final season of his show — Colbert didn’t mince words about why.
“Like, I don’t drink a cup of poison every day?” Colbert began. “Because part of the job is… the old gig as I remember it was 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 irradiate it back at the audience at a non-lethal rad level.”
“That’s exactly the job description,” Kimmel joked.
Colbert added that he no longer stresses about the issues that are discussed on late night television, saying, “I have an opportunity to not think about the news every day, and I took it.”
Kimmel went on to ask Colbert about his Emmys haul after the former host said The Late Show with Stephen Colbert won seven trophies for its final season.
“Did anyone from CBS call to congratulate you on your seven Emmys?” Kimmel asked.
“I am not familiar with that organization. Thank you for asking. Yes,” Colbert responded sarcastically.
CBS announced the cancelation of the late night show in July 2025, just days after Colbert criticized the network’s parent company, Paramount, for reaching a $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump over accusations that its newsmagazine series 60 Minutes deceptively edited a 2024 interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. CBS staffers told The Independent it was a continuation of the “Trump shakedown” that began with the settlement.
Colbert’s latest jab at the network came hours after he commented about Bari Weiss, the former conservative political commentator with no previous broadcast experience who was made editor-in-chief of CBS News in October 2025, after Paramount merged with Skydance.
After the Emmys, Colbert was asked about Weiss by CNN correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister and Variety’s co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh, per The Daily Beast.
Colbert said he had “never heard of her” before adding sarcastically, “Do you know her? I hear great things.”
After receiving a standing ovation for winning the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Series, Colbert plugged his show’s writers, urging others in the industry to hire them.
“They will make your show better, and they will make your day easier,” he said.
“I want to say to the audience, thank you so much for watching,” Colbert continued. “We hope you enjoyed the show. We had a great time doing it for you.”
