“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” took home the Emmy for outstanding talk series during Sunday night’s ceremony in Los Angeles.
Colbert took the stage and accepted the award on behalf of the show, which is set to end its run next year.
Related Articles
Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ is being canceled by CBS, citing ‘financial decision’
“Thank you for this honor,” Colbert began, saying it was a “privilege to be part of the late-night tradition, which I hope continues long after we are no longer doing this show.”
It was the second win for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” at this year’s Emmys. Last week, the show won the Emmy for outstanding directing for a variety series.
Also nominated in the talk series category were “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “The Daily Show.”
In his speech on Sunday, Colbert thanked the “200 professionals” who have worked on his show and his wife, Evelyn McGee-Colbert.
Colbert also dedicated the award to his parents and Amy Cole, Colbert’s longtime personal and “Late Show” executive assistant, who died last year from cancer, according to Deadline.
He ended his speech by reflecting on a conversation he had with filmmaker Spike Jonze in September 2015, when Jonze asked Colbert what kind of talk show he wanted to have.
“I said, I don’t know how you could do it, but I’d like to do a late night comedy show that was about love,” he said. “I don’t know if I ever figured that out, but at a certain point — and you can guess what that point was — I realized that in some ways we were doing a late night comedy show about loss. And that’s related to love because sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense that you might be losing it.”
He added, “Ten years later, in September 2025 my friends, I have never loved my country more desperately. God bless America, stay strong, be brave and if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor!”
The win serves as a bookend for the hit talk series after more than three decades on air.
In July, CBS announced that the “Late Show” franchise will come to a close in May 2026 due to a financial decision, CBS president George Cheeks said in a press release at the time.
“This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night,” Cheeks said. “It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”
Cheeks added, “We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire ‘THE LATE SHOW’ franchise at that time. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television.”
Related Articles
Late-night TV hosts react to ‘Late Show’ cancellation
Colbert took over “The Late Show” after David Letterman left the show in 2015. Letterman began hosting the show in 1993.
Under Letterman as host, the show earned nine Emmy awards, including outstanding variety, music or comedy series in 1994 and from 1999 to 2002.
Upon the announcement of the show’s end, Colbert addressed the network’s decision on his show in a July episode.
“I just found out last night,” he said.
In response, the audience reacted with boos.
“Yeah, I share your feelings,” Colbert said. “And I’m grateful to the audience, you, who have joined us every night, in here, out there and all around the world.”
