“The Late Present With Stephen Colbert” received the Emmy for speak sequence for the primary time, marking a victory for the canceled present.
In his transferring acceptance speech, host Stephen Colbert mirrored on the beginning of his model of “The Late Present,” saying he informed producer Spike Jonze 10 years in the past, “I don’t know the way you could possibly do it, however I’d type of love to do a late evening comedy present that was about love.”
“I don’t know if I ever figured that out, however at a sure level, and you’ll guess what that time was, I noticed that in some methods, we had been doing a late evening comedy present about loss. And that’s associated to like, as a result of typically you solely actually know the way a lot you’re keen on one thing if you get a way that you simply is perhaps dropping it,” Colbert continued.
“And 10 years later, in September of 2025, my associates, I’ve by no means beloved my nation extra desperately,” he mentioned. “God bless America. Keep robust. Be courageous, and if the elevator tries to convey you down, go loopy and punch the next ground.”
“The Late Present” was up towards “Jimmy Kimmel Dwell!” and defending champ “The Day by day Present” within the class. The win comes simply months after CBS introduced it was canceling the long-running late-night present on the finish of its present season in Could, citing monetary causes. CBS Chief Govt George Cheeks and different high executives mentioned in a joint assertion on the time of the announcement that the choice was “not associated in any strategy to the present’s efficiency, content material or different issues taking place at Paramount.”
These different issues included the pending sale of Paramount to David Ellison’s Skydance Media, which was ready for federal approval on the time of the announcement, and the corporate’s resolution to settle a lawsuit introduced by President Trump over edits to a section on “60 Minutes” for $16 million.
Days earlier than the information of cancellation hit, Colbert had skewered the corporate over the choice on his present throughout the monologue, characterizing it as a “large fats bribe”: “As somebody who has all the time been a proud worker of this community, I’m offended. And I don’t know if something will ever restore my belief on this firm. However simply taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would assist.”
Colbert has lengthy been a vocal critic of the president, attracting a loyal viewers along with his signature humor and sharp takes on political and cultural hot-button points. Lately, promoting income had shrunk however viewership remained robust. Colbert’s present has ranked No. 1 amongst broadcasters in late evening for 9 consecutive seasons.
The dramatic resolution to finish a franchise that has helped formed popular culture was beautiful to some. CBS launched its late-night block in 1993 with David Letterman after he defected from NBC. Colbert has hosted the present for 10 years, taking up from Letterman after internet hosting Comedy Central’s information satire “The Colbert Report” for 9 years, the place he performed a caricature of a political pundit.
Regardless of its reputation, the “Late Present” has by no means received an Emmy for speak sequence, although it has been nominated 9 instances. Earlier than the Inventive Arts Emmy Awards held earlier this month, the sequence had been nominated for greater than 30 Emmys however had received none. The present claimed its first prize for steering for a range sequence final Sunday.
Colbert had already gotten a rousing standing ovation Sunday when he introduced the primary award of the night. He began off by asking if anybody was hiring earlier than whipping out a dated headshot and handing it off to Harrison Ford, asking the actor to go it alongside to Steven Spielberg.
