Stephen Colbert’s final guest has been revealed as Sir Paul McCartney, with the legendary musician sitting down with the Late Show host on his final episode for a chat about the Beatles, his latest album and his frustration with iPhone updates.<\/p>\n
Amid speculation as to who would grace the couch at the Ed Sullivan Theater for the final time \u2014 and an extended riff on whether Colbert would land Pope Leo XIV, often mentioned as his ideal interviewee \u2014 Sir Paul strode onto the stage to applause from the audience, in the theatre where the Beatles made their first US TV appearance in 1964.<\/p>\n
Can late-night talk shows survive Trump?<\/a><\/p>\n With Stephen Colbert’s Late Show wrapping up this week, the future of late-night talk \u2014 an American cultural institution \u2014 has never looked more perilous.<\/p>\n The reveal came after Colbert first addressed the audience in a more intimate style than his typical monologue, leaning on his desk as he spoke about the joy hosting The Late Show has brought to him and his staff over the past 11 years.<\/p>\n “This show, I want you to know, has been a joy for us to do for you,” he said.<\/p>\n He also referenced his previous comedy persona \u2014 the fictional conservative cable host of the same name, from his days on Comedy Central \u2014 and spoke about how his time helming CBS’s flagship late-night franchise had been different.<\/p>\n “On night one of The Colbert Report back in the day, I said anyone can read the news to you. I promised to feel the news at you,” he said.<\/p>\n “And I realised pretty soon in this job, that our job over here was different.<\/p>\n “We were here to feel the news with you. And I don’t know about you, but I sure have felt it.”<\/p>\n The Late Show’s cancellation was officially announced last July, setting off a storm of controversy<\/a> as it came while CBS’s parent company, Paramount, was seeking FCC approval for a merger with Skydance, creating one of America’s largest entertainment companies.<\/p>\n Colbert, one of US President Donald Trump’s most vocal critics, had just days earlier castigated CBS for settling a lawsuit filed by the president against 60 Minutes for $US16 million ($22 million), despite many legal experts believing the case had little chance of success (Colbert called the settlement a “big fat bribe”).<\/p>\n