Colbert Marks the End of ‘The Late Show’ With Performance by Paul McCartney, but No Explicit Reference to Trump

CBS’s late-night host Stephen Colbert marked the end of “The Late Show” with a relatively low-key episode that featured a musical performance by Paul McCartney, but largely glossed over the political drama surrounding the end of the franchise. For the final episode of “The Late Show,” Mr. Colbert said on Thursday that he was eschewing the idea of having a special event for his send-off. But his monologue was repeatedly interrupted by various appearances of Hollywood stars such as Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd, and Ryan Reynolds. The show also featured an interview with Paul McCartney, who gave Mr. Colbert a signed photograph of his 1964 performance with The Beatles at the Ed Sullivan Theater, where the late show has been recorded. “At first, when we knew this was going to be our last night, we were planning on doing a huge special this evening, but the thing is, we like to think every episode of ‘The Late Show’ is kind of special,” Mr. Colbert said. “And we thought the best way to celebrate what we’ve done over the last 11 years is just do a regular episode where I come out here and talk about the national conversation.”A conservative commentator, Stephen Miller, panned the episode, writing on X, “Going out with burning down the house could be a pretty decent exit but instead he goes out with Paul McCartney giving him a signed photo and talking about how cool it is that he did that.”“Colbert’s entire schtick was staged applause for how cool his own ego was. It just isn’t very interesting to anyone other than Stephen Colbert,” he said. The end of “The Late Show” and Mr. Colbert’s time at CBS was tinged by politics. Last July, CBS announced it would cancel “The Late Show.” The network said that it had “purely” financial motivations for ending the franchise, and Puck later reported that the program was losing up to $40 million a year. President Trump celebrated the news in a post on Truth Social, writing, “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.”Democrats and fans of Mr. Colbert have suggested that there were political motivations. When CBS made the cancellation announcement, the Federal Communications Commission was reviewing a merger between the network’s parent company, Paramount Global, and Skydance Media. The FCC approved the merger a week after CBS announced the cancellation. But for all the drama, there were relatively few political jabs during the final episode of “The Late Show.” Mr. Colbert did not even mention Mr. Trump by name, despite skewering the president on a nearly-daily basis for years. But he seemed to take a subtle shot at CBS as he discussed a lawsuit brought by the “Peanuts” music owner against entities that use the iconic song “Linus and Lucy.”“Anyone illegally using that music is going to have to pay through the nose,” he said as the “Linus and Lucy” music played in the background. “Is the band right now playing the same ‘Peanuts’ music that I just said people are getting sued for using without permission? … Oh no, I hope this doesn’t cost CBS any money.”Earlier in the show, Mr. Colbert teased the final guest on “The Late Show.” Several of the Hollywood guests in the crowd joked about being the last guest on the program. Mr. Colbert also joked that he had originally booked Pope Leo XIV to be the last guest, but it turned out that the final guest on the show was Mr. McCartney. The show ended with a musical performance by Mr. McCartney singing “Hello, Goodbye.”

Colbert Marks the End of ‘The Late Show’ With Performance by Paul McCartney, but No Explicit Reference to Trump

Colbert Marks the End of ‘The Late Show’ With Performance by Paul McCartney, but No Explicit Reference to Trump

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