Stephen Colbert Gets Standing Ovation at Emmys After CBS Cancels ‘Late Show’
Stephen Colbert was greeted like a rockstar at Sunday’s Emmy Awards — and it couldn’t have come at a more bittersweet moment.
Just months after CBS shocked fans by canceling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the 60-year-old comedian walked onto the Emmy stage as a presenter and was met with a massive standing ovation. The crowd erupted into chants of “Stephen! Stephen! Stephen!” — a rare, goosebump-worthy scene for the usually buttoned-up ceremony.
Colbert, ever the jokester, leaned right into the moment. “While I have your attention, is anyone hiring?” he quipped before dramatically pulling out a paper resume complete with a throwback headshot. In true Colbert fashion, he handed it off to Harrison Ford with a wink, suggesting Ford pass it along to Steven Spielberg.
But the night only got more emotional from there. Later in the telecast, The Late Show picked up the Emmy for Outstanding Talk Series, marking a huge career milestone for Colbert, who finally held his first Primetime Emmy trophy in hand.
Taking the stage once more — this time as a winner — Colbert delivered a powerful speech that mixed humor with heartfelt reflection.
“Ten years ago in September of 2015, Spike Jonze stopped by my office and said, ‘What do you want this show to be about?’ I said, ‘I don’t know how you could do it, but I’d like to do a late-night comedy show about love,’” Colbert recalled. “I don’t know if I ever figured that out, but at a certain point … 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.”
The host — who will sign off from The Late Show for good in May 2026 — then got candid about his country, saying: “Ten years later, in September of 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!”
Pumping his fist in the air, Colbert let out a triumphant “Woo!” as the audience cheered.
The Emmy win comes during a whirlwind chapter for Colbert, whose cancellation sparked controversy after Paramount’s merger with Skydance Media — and days after settling a lawsuit with the Trump administration.
Colbert’s longtime feud with Donald Trump resurfaced as the former president celebrated the cancellation on Truth Social, writing, “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired.”
Despite the noise, Colbert’s career speaks for itself. Across decades, he’s racked up 44 Emmy nominations, 10 wins for The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, plus two Grammys, five Peabody Awards, seven PGA awards, and four WGA awards.
For now, fans have until 2026 to soak up every last moment of Colbert’s late-night run. And judging by the Emmys’ standing ovation, audiences aren’t ready to let him go anytime soon.