4 min readNew DelhiMay 22, 2026 02:06 PM IST
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert aired its final episode on May 21, and while fans expected a special episode, Stephen, in his opening monologue, said that they would be doing a “normal episode which is always special.” “The best way to celebrate is just to do a regular episode where I come out and talk about the national conversation,” he said. Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd, Tim Meadows were seated in the audience and playfully interrupted his opening monologue as they joked about being the “special guest” for the evening.
Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd, Ryan Reynolds make an appearance
Stephen Colbert acknowledged the history of the Ed Sullivan theatre in his opening monologue and said that they were “lucky enough to be here for 11 years.” Tig Notaro and Ryan Reynolds were also seated in the audience and playfully interrupted during the show. Since Stephen spoke about sinkholes in New York in the opening monologue, Neal deGrasse Tyson appeared during the episode to discuss a “interdimensional wormhole.” Neal told Stephen that “your cancellation has created a rift” in late night and added, “If it grows, all of late night television could be destroyed.” Before Neal could complete his thought, Stephen pushed him into the hole and said, “Oh no, it swallowed Neal before we could explain how we were wrong about something.”
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Other late night hosts bid adieu to Stephen Colbert
Other late-night hosts, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver and Seth Meyers, also appeared during the show. Kimmel said, “Late night isn’t going to be the same without you.” Meyers chimed in, “Yeah, without you, who will America turn to to see a middle-aged white man make jokes about the news?” Kimmel then referred to his show’s cancellation last year and said, “One of these holes opened at my show last year, but it went away after three days.” When Stephen asked if the same was going to happen to him too, other late nights hosts said “Shhhh” in unison. Jon Stewart also appeared on the episode.
Paul McCartney reminisces The Beatles’ first performance in the US
The much awaited final guest of the show was Paul McCartney, who reminisced the first American performance of The Beatles, which was also held at the Ed Sullivan Theatre in 1964. Paul presented Stephen a framed image of the Beatles as a final present. He said, “It’s fantastic to come back here. It’s like you say, I always remember the girls in the balcony.”
Paul McCartney recalled the time when he saw America as “the greatest democracy” and said that in the 1960s, he imagined US as the place “where all the music we loved came from, all the rock ’n’ roll, the blues and the whole thing. America was just the land of the free, the greatest democracy. Yes, that was what it was.”
The final episode ended with Paul performing The Beatles’ “Hello, Goodbye” with Jon Batiste and Stephen Colbert joining in as back-up vocals. Stephen’s staff members from the show also joined him on stage for the performance. The final visuals saw Stephen and Paul heading backstage as they turn off the lights of The Late Show.
Why did Stephen Colbert’s show get cancelled?
Stephen Colbert first spoke about The Late Show’s cancellation in July 2025. The cancellation came just days after he criticsed CBS’ parent company Paramount for its $16 million settlemnnet with President Donald Trump, who alleged that CBS had decepively edited an interview with Former Vice President Kamala Harris.
At the time, CBS said that the decision to cancel the show had nothing to do with the “show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.” The statemnt said that the cancellation was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”
