Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ Farewell Gets Real—Is There a Secret Twist Hidden in His Final Four Months?
Added on January 28, 2026 inTV News Cards
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Well, isn’t this a cosmic curveball? Just as Jupiter consoles us with promises of growth, the cosmos throws us a bittersweet retrograde in the late-night universe: Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show is clocking out on May 21, 2026. The big reveal hit on Tuesday night on Late Night With Seth Meyers, and Colbert didn’t sugarcoat it — “It feels real now,” he confessed, like a cosmic nudge jolting him out of denial. Four months until the final curtain, and while the jokes and sketches will keep the laughs coming, it’s the family behind the scenes that’s got his heartstrings tugged tight. You’ve gotta wonder, when Mercury’s in its playful trickster phase, does this kind of ending sting a little more? Or maybe it’s just the universe reminding us that even the Ed Sullivan Theater’s iconic stage can’t outshine the people who bring the magic. If you thought late night was eternal, think again — but hey, every ending births a new dawn, right? Ready to dive into the star-crossed final chapters of a legendary show? LEARN MORE
As the official final air date for The Late Show was revealed Tuesday, Stephen Colbert admits that the end of the show “feels real now.”
During the host’s Tuesday night appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers, where it was revealed that May 21 will be the final show, Colbert elaborated on his feelings about the series’ impending conclusion.
“It feels real now,” he told Seth Meyers of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ending. “It did not feel — I mean, I know it was real, but now, there’s four months left.”
Colbert also noted that while “the shows are fun to do” as host, he is not looking forward to parting ways with the people working on the show behind-the-scenes.
“What I really love is the people I do it with. And we’ve been putting together this, I mean, there are people I’ve been working with… my shoemaker, Tom Purcell, I’ve known since 1988. And so, we’ve all been together forever,” he added. “So, listen, you can do comedy a lot of different places. There’s no place like the Ed Sullivan Theater, no offense. But it’s really the people, and that’s really what I’m going to miss more than anything.
“And we’ll do something else together, but it feels real now. I’m not thrilled with it,” Colbert added.
Meyers responded, “I feel like neither of ever take it for granted, but I do think it’s that weird thing that it’s just built into your life when you have a show like this that you just get to see people every day that are funny and help you process through, oftentimes, the things that we’re talking about, which can be difficult.”
Colbert announced the Late Show was ending back in July 2025, where he further extended praise toward the team who work on the show: “I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners. I’m so grateful to the Tiffany Network for giving me this chair and this beautiful theater to call home. And of course, I’m grateful to you, the audience who have joined us. … And I am extraordinarily, deeply grateful to the 200 people who work here.”
At the time, CBS said the cancellation was “purely a financial decision.”
“The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will end its historic run in May 2026 at the end of the broadcast season,” George Cheeks, at the time a Paramount co-CEO, said in a statement alongside other senior leadership. “We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire The Late Show franchise at that time. We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television.”
Watch the clip of Colbert’s segment on Late Night With Seth Meyers below.
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