Stephen Colbert has jokingly pitched himself to Netflix and Amazon following the announcement that The Late Show will end in May 2026. During the final episode before its summer hiatus, the comedian used the opportunity to court potential new employers.
On Thursday's episode, Colbert referenced a Daily Beast story about Vice President JD Vance allegedly requesting that the water levels of an Ohio river be raised for a birthday boat trip. He introduced a new character, 'Wittle Pwince Vance', wearing a mask of Vance with a crown, and spoke in a childish voice: 'Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye! I want my wiver waised for my birthday! Also, I don't like how bwue the sky is – paint it wed! Now, give me juice box.'
After removing the mask, Colbert quipped: 'Netflix, call me. I'm available in June. I will also entertain offers from Amazon.' The 61-year-old also defended fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon after Donald Trump claimed they could be next to lose their jobs.
Colbert showed a clip of Trump saying: 'Colbert has no talent. Fallon has no talent. Kimmel has no talent. They're next.' Colbert responded: 'I knew that, yeah, I knew that. But to be fair, I think we're all equally untalented.' He then thanked Trump for agreeing to be in a fake promo for The Late Show, which featured Trump's rants and added that 'Colbert is No 1 in late night'.
Colbert has been a vocal critic of Trump, and the cancellation of The Late Show followed Colbert's claim that Paramount's $16m settlement with Trump over 60 Minutes was a 'big fat bribe'. Trump celebrated the cancellation on Truth Social, posting: 'I absolutely love that Colbert was fired.'
