Just two weeks before he hosts his final episode of CBS’ Late Show, The Hollywood Reporter cover star Stephen Colbert was the toast of the evening at THR‘s Most Powerful People in New York Media party, presented by History Channel, at Daniel Boulud’s Daniel Thursday night in Manhattan.

Colbert hugged his colleague Gayle King shortly after both arrived. As King posed for photos on the red carpet, Colbert jumped in and joined her for a couple of playful shots. Later he posed solo, flashing some of his best male model-like stares, before he was spotted chatting with other guests near the bar and then making his way into the main party room. There he held court and could be seen deep in conversation with Rita Wilson as well as catching up with Andy Cohen, THR editor-in-chief Maer Roshan and Boulud, with whom Colbert had an appropriately warm moment with near the fondue station.

King sung Colbert’s praises to THR on the red carpet, saying of Colbert, “I love everything about him. I’ve been on his show a couple of times. The wit that he has, the intelligence that he has, there’s nobody like him. And I can’t wait to see what he does in his next chapter because we all know Stephen ain’t done.”

King was ready to party, briefly dancing to “Losing You” by Solange as she left the red carpet and made her way to the party area. She was later spotted catching up with Billy Eichner and Rosanna Scotto.

Wilson and Billy Eichner also spoke at length about their admiration for Colbert, with Wilson admitting that despite their friendship, she’d never appeared on his show.

“The timing has never been right because there are these rules, so if you do one show, you can’t do another show,” she said. “But I know Stephen a little bit personally, and I think he is a man of integrity, and I am deeply in awe of his faith. And he is funny, man. He is just so funny. You can’t not have that humor in the world. But I think he’ll continue to go out there and be exactly who he is for all of our good fortune.”

After their long conversation Thursday night perhaps something is in the works.

Also teasing a future version of an older project was Carson Daly, who told THR, “We’re working on a TRL thing that may come down the line.”

Other stars spotted at the event, presented by A+E Global Media and History Channel, was held in conjunction with the publication of THR’s 11th list of the 50 Most Powerful People in New York Media and taking place for the first time since 2022, were Andy Cohen, Tony Dokoupil and Katy Tur.

Elsewhere in the restaurant, Dan Abrams and Van Jones were spotted deep in conversation with MSNOW president Rebecca Kutler. And Hot Ones’ Sean Evans showed some love to Meadowlark podcaster Pablo S. Torre, giving him a huge hug to congratulate him on his Pulitzer Prize win in audio reporting for his Pablo Torres Finds Out (PTFO) podcast.

Earlier on the red carpet, Today‘s Carson Daly, representing for the NBC morning show, caught up with Cohen and newly appointed Vogue editor Chloe Malle showed off her punctuality, arriving right as the party began at 6:30 p.m. ET. CBS Evening News host Tony Dokoupil and his MSNOW anchor wife Katy Tur arrived roughly an hour in, and Tur was later seen with a group that included Eichner and MSNOW’s Ari Melber.

Other luminaries who made the scene include Vanity Fair‘s Mark Giuducci, who attended with his partner Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times‘ White House team; Semafor’s Ben Smith; Instagram’s Eva Chen; Hannah Bronfman; CNN’s Abby Phillip; Evan Ross Katz; W Magazine‘s Sara Moonves; Roxane Gay; WSJ. Magazine‘s Sarah Ball, HBO executive producer Michael J. Fuchs and “Sex and the City” columnist Candace Bushnell.

Bravo chairman Frances Berwick, who attended with Cohen, spoke about preparing to give Kathy Hilton an icon award at an upcoming event while elsewhere the A&E team was still riding high from their HistoryTalks event in Philadelphia with all of the living former presidents.

The packed event at the Upper East Side restaurant saw guests nearly shoulder to shoulder in the foyer, as they made their way to the main dining room, converted into more of a cocktail party set-up for the evening, where they caught up with their fellow media all-stars as they enjoyed passed canapes and desserts as well as a cheese and fondue station at one end of the room. Inside the intimate, dimly lit venue, tables were topped with white tablecloths and candles as well as, of course, The Hollywood Reporter‘s New York issue. Photos from the issue rotated across video screens inside the restaurant.

Melber was among those who praised the “incredible food.”

“You go to NY parties and they’re wonderful. A lot of times the food is not the focus,” he said. “THR has done this here at Daniel, which is one of the most renowned restaurants in the country and they didn’t skimp on the appetizers.”

The event was DJed by Harley Viera Newton, with Boulud himself joining her behind the turntables for a portion of the evening, who treated guests to a decade-spanning collection of upbeat hits like Blondie’s “Heart of Glass,” Mark Ronson and Lily Allen’s “Oh My God,” Anita Ward’s “Ring My Bell,” Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” and The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven.”

As the evening wound down, many of the TV media stars had left, particularly the morning show hosts, but Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter Ella Emhoff was still excitedly greeting other guests.

Additional reporting by Alex Weprin, Julian Sancton and Lacey Rose.