left many fans unimpressed after appeared as a surprise guest during his farewell on Thursday, as The Late Show aired its final star-studded episode after a 33-year run.
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Colberts Farewell Episode Fails to Impress Fans
Stephen Colbert left many fans unimpressed after Ryan Reynolds appeared as a surprise guest during his farewell on Thursday, as The Late Show aired its final st...
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During the first half of the special final episode, Colbert, 62, had a string of celebrity cameos in the audience, each jokingly wondering whether they would be his last interview, before icon ended up being his final guest.
However, fans were left irritated when 's husband Reynolds - who played a with - was among the surprise appearances.
Colbert quickly shut him down, joking: 'Ryan, it's great to see you, but I hate to tell you, you're not my last guest.'
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'Ouchie,' Reynolds replied. 'Okay, well in that case I'm just happy to be here. Pay my respects to the one on the world's greatest entertainers in his last night at the Ed Sullivan theater.'
After Colbert thanked him, Reynolds quipped, 'I was talking about your keyboardist, Corey Bernhard.' Reynolds then got up to give Bernhard a prolonged hug and a gift of bananas, before the musician playfully shook him off.
Stephen Colbert, 62, left many fans unimpressed after Ryan Reynolds appeared as a surprise guest during his farewell on Thursday, as The Late Show aired its final star-studded episode
Blake Lively's husband - who played a major role in her legal war with Justin Baldoni - was among the celebrity cameos
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'Thank you. Please stop DM-ing me,' Bernhard told him.
'Never,' Reynolds replied.
Colbert has spent nearly 11 years at the helm of The Late Show, taking over as host in September 2015; Pictured with President Donald Trump in an episode from September 2015
He took the reins from David Letterman, 79, who launched the late-night talk show in 1993; Seen with Letterman in 2023
His roster of high-profile guests includes Taylor Swift; Seen on the show in December 2025
Colbert recently addressed whether he is worried about potential fallout with President Trump.
In a new interview with People, he insisted he has 'no fear' of the current administration.
'I mean, how silly would it be? The ending of the show aside, which people can speculate about all they want, and I can't argue with their speculations, but we're clowns. How much does it diminish the office of the Presidency to even notice what we say?' he said.
He continued, '[Trump] needs to know how to pick his battles, metaphorically and literally.'
What Colbert will miss is 'the camaraderie of us feeling better about our day. I harvest laughter for a living. I’ll miss that as much as I'll miss the audience.'
He also recalled the moment he heard the news of the cancellation, describing how he was lying on his couch with a sock over his eyes, resting before the show, when his manager dropped the shocking announcement.
'I sat up and I said, "I'm sorry, I'm awake. Could you say that one more time?"'
Jimmy Fallon (pictured left) and Jimmy Kimmel (pictured right) gave Colbert an unusual send-off by going dark in late-night solidarity. Instead, their shows aired reruns
But these days Colbert said he feels as if CBS really 'saved my life' by ending The Late Show. 'It takes a lot of bone marrow to do the show every day, and now I’ll be stepping down with enough time, enough energy to do other things that I want to do,' he offered.
The star now has more time to spend with his three adult children, Madeleine, 30, Peter, 28, and John, 24, whom he shares with wife of 32 years, Evelyn McGee Colbert.
Colbert added that after his Late Show duties are over, he will attend his brother's wedding then get to work on writing the new Lord Of The Rings movie with his son, screenwriter Peter.
Apart from that, the comedian said he is 'available' for hire.
The film is currently titled The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past, and will be written by Colbert, his son and Philippa Boyens.
The announcement came in March via the studio's various social media platforms, with Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson joining Colbert for a video call.
Colbert shared that the film will be based on chapters Three Is Company through Fog on the Barrow-downs, from J.R.R. Tolkien's epic high-fantasy novel The Fellowship of the Ring.
CBS insisted the decision to end the show was 'purely financial', but the cancellation came just days after Colbert slammed CBS’ $16 million settlement with Trump as 'a big fat bribe'; Above, Trump on May 15
This comes amid news from Puck that The Late Show - which reportedly loses $40 million a year - is on track to post their least-viewed January on record with just 285,000 viewers, the worst in the show's 10-year history.
When Colbert first announced in July 2025 that The Late Show was canceled he kept his response classy, saying: 'I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners.'
The Late Show will be replaced by Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen, a comedy talk show that will not have political commentary.
Before The Late Show, Colbert spent nine years hosting The Colbert Report on Comedy Central and had been a correspondent on The Daily Show under Stewart.
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