Stephen Colbert bids ‘The Late Show’ goodbye with surprise guest Paul McCartney
Stephen Colbert has waved goodbye to his late-night show with plenty of friendly faces, including Beatles legend Paul McCartney.
On May 21st, Colbert wrapped up his final show after hosting the show for almost a decade; his exit was confirmed in 2025, which, according to CBS, was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night”.
Notably, the decision coincided with Paramount, the owner of CBS, seeking federal approval from the Trump administration to complete its merger with Skydance. At the time, Paramount also settled a $16 million lawsuit with the president, described by Colbert on air as a “big fat bribe”.
Many have since rushed to support Colbert through the unfortunate ending to the show.
On closing night, a slew of household names dedicated their evening to making the long-serving host feel special; Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd, Tim Meadows, Tig Notaro, and Ryan Reynolds all showed up, assuming they would be Colbert’s final guests.
Upon storming out of the studio after he found out he wouldn’t be the star, Meadows yelled jokingly, “You got what you deserve!”
Rumour mill had suggested that the Pope was lined up to be Colbert’s final guest, but he was insulted by the quality of hot dogs in the studio: “You call that a Chicago dog? Pope don’t play like that,” the Pope’s caricature, with his face artfully disguised, fumed.
As Colbert panicked about who he might get to replace the ecclesiastical icon, McCartney walked out on stage, offering, “Hey, Stephen, what about me?”
The pairing marked a full-circle moment for the Liverpudlian, as the Ed Sullivan Theatre is the very same building in which the Beatles made their US television debut in 1964, a performance that quickly went down in the echelons of rock history.
The extended interview took on many huge topics, including the landmark US performance, as well as the upcoming Beatles biopic, and McCartney’s early outlook that America “hopefully still is” a land of the greatest democracy. Colbert didn’t seem so convinced.
Colbert nodded to the political turmoil behind the scenes, which Bruce Springsteen had referenced in the penultimate episode, through talk of a “black hole” that’d been causing technical difficulties throughout the episode.
According to guest star, American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, the whole appeared because “two contradictory realities cannot coexist without rupturing the space-time continuum.” In Colbert’s case, “If a show is number one on late night and it also gets cancelled.”
Tyson’s final warning, before he was sucked into the show, was that the Late Show‘s cancellation “has created a rift in the comedy variety talk continuum — all of late night television could be destroyed”.
Other members of the late-night talk-show universe, John Oliver, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, and Seth Meyers, appeared to offer their sympathies. From Kimmel: “One of these holes opened at my show last year, but it went away after about three days.”
When attempting to wrap up the show, Colbert was sucked into the black hole; once there, he accompanied some friends, including former band leader Jon Batiste, for a performance of Elvis Costello’s ‘Jump Up’.
Back in the studio, Colbert’s final moments were overtaken by a dance party as Colbert’s loved ones and the Late Show staff threw shapes to McCartney’s rendition of the 1967 Beatles song ‘Hello Goodbye’.
Colbert then offered McCartney the honours of flipping a giant switchbox off, turning off the lights at the Ed Sullivan Theatre, and marking the end of a joyous, courageous, and celebratory series finale.
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.