{"id":512506,"date":"2026-03-09T06:47:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T06:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/512506\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T06:47:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T06:47:07","slug":"stephen-colbert-wga-east-speech-slams-paramount-reveals-unaired-jokes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/512506\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Colbert WGA East Speech Slams Paramount, Reveals Unaired Jokes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tUpon receiving this year\u2019s Walter Bernstein Award<\/a> from the Writers Guild of America East, outgoing Late Show host Stephen Colbert<\/a> took the opportunity with his time onstage to champion his staff and lob one final jab at CBS<\/a> parent corporation Paramount<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnyone expecting scorched earth might have been the tiniest bit disappointed, but the whole 15-minute segment reflected the weight of the moment as the late-night host drew multiple standing ovations. Although Colbert was receiving an honor named after a screenwriter who was blacklisted during the McCarthyist Red Scare of the 1950s, he took pains not to play too much the martyr. However, he did not let the moment pass without taking a jab at his soon-to-be former employers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is not the 1950s,\u201d he quipped. \u201cThis is not the Red Scare. And, as far as I can tell, no one in late-night is fomenting a revolution. As we know, the revolution will not be televised. It was going to be televised, and then Paramount bought it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tThe audience erupted into loud applause and cheers, as he continued, referencing the figure the network cited<\/a> as reasoning to cancel The Late Show franchise: \u201cEvidently, the revolution was losing, like, $40 million a year \u2014 it had to go. I hear the revolution is thinking of starting a Substack.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: WGA East President Tom Fontana Talks AMPTP Negotiations & Paramount-WBD Merger At WGA Awards: \u201cDemocracy Is At Stake\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tComedy writer Robert Smigel, who presented the award, started off his lengthy introduction by observing, \u201cYou can just\u00a0feel\u00a0the gravitas!\u201d CBS\u2019 decision last year to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert<\/a><\/a>, mere weeks before parent company Paramount gained final government approval for its merger with Skydance, informed the whole night even though the honoree did not touch on it in any detail, and also ignored the more recent $110 billion merger agreement<\/a> Paramount set with Warner Bros. Discovery. The Late Show will wrap on May 21<\/a> after a 33-year run, the past 11 with Colbert as host.<\/p>\n

\n\tSmigel\u2019s introduction covered a number of career touchstones, starting with his breakthrough hiring (at Smigel\u2019s recommendation) on The\u00a0Dana Carvey Show, a network sketch series that flamed out after eight episodes in 1996 but left an enduring legacy due to its all-star roster of writers and performers.\u00a0He also covered the transition to The Daily Show in 1997 then The Colbert Report in 2005 and eventually to CBS, with memorable stops along the way like roasting Chevy Chase on Comedy Central or bombing valiantly at the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner in 2006.<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring his acceptance speech at the March 8 WGA Awards ceremony<\/a>, Colbert also drew growing laughs with the innuendo: \u201cOf course, no one achieves success in this business by themselves, late-night hosts especially. We hosts are merely the tip of the iceberg, though the tip is the most sensitive part.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: WGA East President Tom Fontana Talks AMPTP Negotiations & Paramount-WBD Merger At WGA Awards: \u201cDemocracy Is At Stake\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tLater on, he also read out some jokes that had been cut by Paramount during his time on the late-night series. They included jabs at the landmark Dobbs decision to repeal abortion rights, Kristi Noem\u2019s alleged affair with aide Corey Lewandowski and President Donald Trump<\/a>\u2018s lewd comments toward his daughter Ivanka. <\/p>\n

\n\tReferencing one cut joke written by female staffers about Louis C.K. amid the #MeToo era, he read out: \u201cOh my God, he masturbates like a toddler poops.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stephen Colbert, telling one of several jokes written for his late-night show but never aired. The CBS host, whose show will end in May, was honored Sunday night with a career achievement award at the Writers Guild Awards #WGAAwards<\/a> (Video: Dade Hayes\/Deadline) pic.twitter.com\/Gk7Dg01CKm<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Deadline (@DEADLINE) March 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tDuring the bit, Colbert also read out a proposed line about OpenAI, which featured in its punchline an NSFW joke about McDonald\u2019s new slogan. While the joke made it past ad sales approval, Colbert had cut it during the 9 a.m. pitch meeting, only to see it had showed up again in the 3 p.m. rehearsal script. It showed up once more during Christmastime, when staffers gifted him a long-sleeve tee with McDonald\u2019s logo and the caption: \u201cWe suck dick now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stephen Colbert at #WGAAwards<\/a> \u2013 he pulled out a long-sleeve t-shirt that was given to staffers as a holiday gift in 2025. It is the McDonald\u2019s logo with the caption, \u201cWe suck dick now\u201d \u2013 that’s the punchline to one of the jokes never aired on Late Show. In Colbert\u2019s speech he\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/BntGBI1w3O<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Deadline (@DEADLINE) March 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tColbert concluded his speech by shouting out his 19 writers. \u201cIf you liked any of these ideas, please employ these lovely folks,\u201d he urged.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThey are the best writing staff I have ever known at any show, and I have loved our time together, which wasn\u2019t as much time as I would like,\u201d he said. \u201cI started in late-night as one of them. Thanks to Robert, Dana Carvey and Jon Stewart, and many other people, I ended up in front of the camera every night, which is a very good job with its own responsibilities, meaning you can\u2019t be in the writers room as much as you used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: L.A. Writers Shrug Off WGA West Award Ceremony Cancellation From Staff Union Picket Line, Urging Leadership To \u201cTreat Our Staff Members With Respect\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAnd to some, hosting may seem like a hard job, and sometimes it is, but what\u2019s also hard is hearing the laughter from the room down the hall and not be able to open it,\u201d he added. \u201cIf you\u2019ve ever been lucky enough to be in that room, you will always want to be in that sound. And what is really gonna be hard is missing these people, who despite the fresh hell \u2014 whatever it is \u2014 that the news washes in, make that beautiful sound happen every day. So to them, and all of you, and Walter Bernstein, and to our guild, thank you so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Bernstein Award, which was established in 2017, is presented to a member \u201cwho has demonstrated with creativity,\u00a0grace\u00a0and bravery a willingness to confront social injustice in the face of adversity,\u201d per WGAE. It is not an annual honor and has only been bestowed twice before, to Jelani Cobb and Ron\u00a0Nyswaner.<\/p>\n

\n\tWGAE President Tom Fontana made it clear in a statement<\/a> that Colbert is receiving the honor for the same reason he got a\u00a0standing ovation at the Emmys in September<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 his bullishness on Trump and, particularly, Paramount Global\u2019s $16 million settlement<\/a>\u00a0with the POTUS over the way that\u00a0CBS News<\/a>\u2018\u00a060 Minutes<\/a>\u00a0edited an interview with Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: Writers From \u2018The Daily Show\u2019, \u2018Last Week Tonight\u2019, \u2018SNL\u2019 & More Try To Solve A Riddle: Is Donald Trump Actually Funny?<\/a><\/p>\n