Stephen Colbert had a heart-to-heart with PEOPLE magazine about the cancellation of The Late Show ahead of its last episode on May 21, 2026.

On July 17, 2025, CBS announced the cancellation of the Emmy Award-winning show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, after its 11-season run due to a challenging advertising landscape for late-night television, even though the show leads the ratings game.

For those unaware, Colbert got his mainstream breakthrough when The Daily Show hired him as a correspondent in 1997, then landed an opportunity to play a right-wing pundit on The Colbert Report from 2005 to 2014.

Considering the 62-year-old American comedian and writer’s deep involvement in America’s politics, the outlet asked him if he would miss that part of his job, to which he replied, “I’ll never stop caring about my country.”

“I’m a perfectly fine fan of me, but I am not of the opinion that if my voice is missing from the national conversation the republic will turn awry,” he noted.

Colbert went on to clarify that he does not “fear” the current administration despite many believing that his political commentary played a key role in his show’s cancellation.

He quipped, “I mean, how silly would it be? The ending of the show aside, which people can speculate about all they want, and I can’t argue with their speculations, but we’re clowns. How much does it diminish the office of the Presidency to even notice what we say?"

"[Trump] needs to know how to pick his battles, metaphorically and literally,” the Strangers with Candy star said, revealing that what he will miss is “the camaraderie of us feeling better about our day.”

“I harvest laughter for a living. I’ll miss that as much as I’ll miss the audience,” Stephen Colbert admitted.