David Letterman and Stephen Colbert Get Revenge on CBS by Tossing Furniture Off the Roof
Stephen Colbert’s 11-year run as host of “The Late Show” will finish on May 21. That its premature finish was introduced mere weeks earlier than the Trump-loyalist Ellison household finalized their CBS-Paramount takeover led many to imagine it was a transfer to appease Trump, whereas the community claimed Colbert’s late-night program was dropping round $40 million a yr — a determine that led pleasant rival Jimmy Kimmel to quip“Not a snowball’s chance in hell that’s accurate.”
President Trump was positively giddy over Colbert’s ouster, lending much more credence to the aforementioned idea, posting to Truth Social, “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. He has even less talent than Colbert!”
More from Variety
Well, no matter the cause, Colbert is out in every week. And so, for his closing weeks, the funnyman has welcomed an assortment of pals and A-listers, from his fellow late-night hosts Kimmel, Oliver, Meyers, and Fallonto the likes of Tom Hanks, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and former president Barack Obama. And on Thursday night time, Colbert welcomed his “Late Show” predecessor, the nice David Lettermanwhose large, bushy beard now resembles Joaquin Phoenix’s throughout his notorious efficiency artwork stunt on his present.
After a prolonged standing ovation — and a killer “Seven Nation Army” musical intro — Letterman took the stage to commiserate with Colbert.
“Well, you know what happened backstage? I’m standing backstage, a guy comes over, he says he’s from CBS and he fires me. What’s going on over there?!” Letterman cracked.
“I have every right to be pissed off, so I’ll be pissed off here a little bit,” he continued. “This theater, you folks wouldn’t be in this theater if it weren’t for me, and Stephen wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me, and we rebuilt this theater, and then Stephen came in, and look at this? It’s like the Bellagio. But, listen… as we all understand, you can take a man’s show, you can’t take a man’s voice.”
And then Letterman gave the punchline: “What I’m really worried about is: What will become of the Jimmys? Are they going to be alright?” referring to Colbert’s late-night compatriots Kimmel and Fallon.
“We’ve got a plan to put them in a captive breeding program,” Colbert joked.
He wasn’t accomplished. Letterman requested Colbert if Skydance owned the furnishings onstage, and when Colbert informed him the community did, he greased a couple of stagehands to have the couches eliminated, earlier than the two joined the viewers in seats and reminisced about their historical past in Manhattan’s famed Ed Sullivan Theater, which for Colbert has, as Letterman put it, “come to a screeching halt by other hands.” Then, they went to the roof of the Ed Sullivan theater to interact in “wanton destruction of CBS property” by having the stage arms toss these couches off the roof and onto a large CBS brand, earlier than tossing his desk chair, adopted by some watermelons and a marriage cake (as a result of why not?).
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the newest information, comply with us on Facebook, Twitterand instagram.