{"id":686989,"date":"2026-05-22T09:01:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T09:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/686989\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T09:01:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T09:01:14","slug":"stephen-colbert-finale-paul-mccartney-jon-stewart-and-late-night-hosts-bid-farewell-to-the-ed-sullivan-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/686989\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Colbert finale: Paul McCartney, Jon Stewart and late-night hosts bid farewell to the Ed Sullivan Theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LouiseSave<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

AAA<\/p>\n

In the end, even Pope Leo XIV couldn\u2019t save Stephen Colbert, as the curtain fell on The Late Show after 11 seasons on Thursday night (US time).<\/p>\n

His Holiness had been Colbert\u2019s dream guest for the final episode \u2013 instead there was a faux \u201cpope\u201d who refused to come out of his dressing room, enraged at the standard of the hot dogs \u2013 so it was left to Sir Paul McCartney to farewell Colbert and the Ed Sullivan Theatre, where the Beatles made their US debut in 1964 on The Ed Sullivan Show.<\/p>\n

\"StephenStephen Colbert addresses the audience during the final episode of The Late Show on Thursday night (US time). CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n

A singalong closed out the episode, with Colbert and McCartney joined on stage by Elvis Costello and The Late Show\u2019s former and current band leaders Jon Batiste<\/a> and Louis Cato in a rendition of the Beatles\u2019 song Hello, Goodbye.<\/p>\n

McCartney also gave Colbert a farewell gift \u2013 a signed colour photo of the Beatles onstage at the theatre \u2013 with Colbert joking that the inscription read: \u201cStephen, you\u2019re better than the Beatles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colbert had earlier been joined by his former Daily Show boss Jon Stewart and Strike Force Five \u2013 fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel<\/a>, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver \u2013 who urged him to accept his fate, as Colbert stood in front of an \u201cinterdimensional wormhole\u201d caused by the \u201ccancellation [that] has created a rip in the comedy-variety-talk continuum, and if it grows, all of late-night television could be destroyed\u201d.<\/p>\n

Oliver reassured him: \u201cAt some point, this may come for all of our shows, but Stephen, what\u2019s important to remember, is tonight it is going to eat you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"StephenStephen Colbert with the \u201cStrike Force Five\u201d crew (from left) John Oliver, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon. CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n

All up, it was a subdued farewell for The Late Show, which had been stacked with big-name guests in its final weeks, including former host David Letterman, who criticised CBS for canning the show, which had run for 33 years, calling the decision \u201cpure cowardice\u201d and its executives \u201clying weasels\u201d for blaming the axing on cost pressures instead of pressure from US President Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Colbert opened his final episode by talking directly to the audience, sitting perched on his desk and telling them that if they had only just tuned in they had \u201cmissed a lot\u201d.<\/p>\n

\" Photo: <\/p>\n

\u201cTonight is our final broadcast from the Ed Sullivan Theatre,\u201d he said. \u201cWe were lucky enough to be here for the last 11 years \u2026 Actually, technically, our first show, back in July of 2015, was from a public access station in Monroe, Michigan, for an audience of 12 people, and show business being what it is these days is probably where you\u2019ll see me next.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colbert said he was determined his final show wouldn\u2019t be anything special, as he considered every episode to be special, and he pretty much stuck to his word. Celebrity guests weren\u2019t in abundance, with actors Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd, Tim Meadows, Tig Notaro and Ryan Reynolds the only famous faces, all vying for the honour of being the final interview.<\/p>\n

Physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson appeared to explain the green wormhole, but otherwise it was a relatively quiet gathering of family and friends, with several of Colbert\u2019s siblings in the audience, while his wife and sons joined him on stage at the end, along with the cast and crew.<\/p>\n

\"PaulPaul McCartney\u2019s parting gift to Stephen Colbert \u2013 a photo of the Beatles appearing on the same set for the Ed Sullivan Show 62 years ago.CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The honour of turning the lights out went to McCartney, who flicked the switch that activated the wormhole, sucking the Ed Sullivan Theatre into a snow globe. It was a weirdly fitting ending, as what has happened to Colbert does feel like it belongs in some type of alternate universe, where the government gets to decide who has a voice.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ever the gentleman, Colbert didn\u2019t rage against the dying light. The last we heard of him was as he talked to his beloved chocolate spaniel Benny, who was sniffing the snow globe as it tinkled The Late Show\u2019s theme song on the footpath: \u201cC\u2019mon Benny, let\u2019s go.\u201d <\/p>\n

Want more TV? We\u2019ve got you.Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

\"LouiseLouise Rugendyke<\/a> is the National TV editor and a senior culture writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":686990,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[64,63,447,134],"class_list":["post-686989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=686989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/686990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=686989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=686989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=686989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}