Stephen Colbert gathered 15 of his famous friends to turn the tables and interrogate him with his signature 'Colbert Questionert' during the penultimate episode of CBS' The Late Show on Wednesday night.
The Number Revealed
Over the years, the 62-year-old comedian has asked countless celebrities to guess what number he was thinking of, and he finally revealed which two of them actually answered correctly. 'Oh that's easy! I know you. I know what number you're thinking of,' Ethan Hawke answered in 2022. 'You already confessed what number you're thinking of. I said, "You were raised a Catholic." You said, "It stuck." You are thinking of the Holy Trinity. Number three.' At the time, Colbert coyly smiled and replied, 'That's very interesting,' before glancing back at his card. And in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic episodes, Meryl Streep remotely guessed the same exact number and he quietly responded, 'Okay,' before glancing back at his card. 'That's the number. That's the number I was thinking of,' the 10-time Emmy winner confirmed.
Questioners and Quips
Questioner Robert De Niro then wisecracked: 'Okay, because I thought it would've been 2.5 million - that's the number of Epstein files [President Donald] Trump still hasn't released.' Other questioners included Aubrey Plaza, Billy Crystal, Martha Stewart, Weird Al Yankovic, Josh Brolin, Mark Hamill, Jim Gaffigan, Jeff Daniels, Tiffany Haddish, Amy Sedaris, Ben Stiller, James Taylor, John Dickerson and his wife Evie Colbert.
Personal Insights
Colbert enjoyed a dance break with Yankovic after revealing his first concert was flugelhorn player Chuck Mangione's Children of Sanchez tour stop in his Charleston, South Carolina hometown back in 1977 with his late mother. However, the two-time Grammy winner's favorite song is Glenn Gould's Song Without Words in E Major, Opus 19, Number One. Colbert told Hamill he had Steve Martin - whose on his Mount Rushmore of comedy - autograph a prop cut-out of his head, framed it and pretended it was a clock so he could joke it was 'Steve Martin O' Clock.' The D.C.-born presenter claimed thick tomato on thin white bread with salt and pepper and mayonnaise was the best 'summer sandwich.' But for the rest of the year, Colbert opts for hot pastrami on rye with a little bit of mustard and coleslaw. Colbert's scariest animal was the Trapdoor spider, he prefers dogs to cats, apples over oranges, aisle over window seat and his favorite action movie is Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Memories and Beliefs
The Daily Show alum's favorite smell was his wife's Kai rose-scented lotion after she showers, and his least favorite smell came from a memory of him experiencing rancid grease mixed with sugar. Colbert's earliest memories as a toddler both involved his late mother - watching her paint a room and trying to tell her about a dream he had involving an albino gorilla King Kong. When we die, the devout Catholic - who's become TV's favorite grief counselor - believes 'there's some continuance of some kind, but it's like a dispersion of the self into some other greater being.' Colbert then described the rest of his life in five words: 'My family, my friends, fun.'
Finale and Future
Two of the five-time Peabody Award winner's Strike Force Five buddies and fellow talk show hosts - Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers - agreed to go dark Thursday in honor of his extended finale. Colbert shockingly announced on July 17 that Paramount/CBS would not be renewing his contract after 11 years on the air, and they would end the late-night program after 44 years on the air. At the time, the network claimed it was 'purely a financial decision' but the cancellation came days after The Daily Show alum called Paramount/CBS' $16 million lawsuit settlement with President Donald Trump 'a big fat bribe.' Paramount was also in the midst of a multibillion-dollar merger with the movie studio Skydance, which requires the government approval of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Luckily, Colbert secured a post-cancellation gig penning a new Lord of the Rings film for Warner Bros. with his 27-year-old son Peter McGee and Philippa Boyens, which was announced on Tolkien Reading Day March 25.
