Stephen Colbert Gets Grilled by His Fellow Late Night Hosts

“No fucking way, you got a question from Jay Leno?” says Stephen Colbert.

As his own late-night tenure nears its end — a cancelation that shocked the industry and its host — THR reached out to fellow hosts, past and present, including Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O’Brien, to help bolster our exit interview. So, on this Friday afternoon in late April, Colbert is huddled in his writers room on the top floor of the Ed Sullivan Theater building, sifting through queries from the only other folks who’ve walked in his shoes.

With a few exceptions, including Leno, whom Colbert has fond memories of, it remains a tight-knit group. In fact, Kimmel, Stewart, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver were the only ones Colbert connected with immediately post-firing. “I came up to my office [after making the on-air announcement], and flipped on my phone and we did a quick exchange,” Colbert recalls. “My favorite was Kimmel, who just said, ‘That’s a hell of an Emmy campaign.’ I said, ‘Busted.’ And then I think they might have laid bets on who was next.”

Their questions for Colbert ahead of his May 21 sign-off are hilariously on brand. Kimmel, for instance, lobs an absurdly silly question about obese patients getting MRIs at the zoo, while Jimmy Fallon inquires about Colbert’s favorite musical guests, Leno is eager to hear about his standup aspirations and Meyers wants to know about interview answers that have stuck with him. O’Brien, for his part, asks, simply: “Just who the hell do you think you are?”

• From the Desk of Jay Leno

  

  
  “Have you ever thought about a road version of your best jokes for a live audience?” –Jay Leno

  Still waiting for the best jokes, Jay. But I can’t imagine never [having a] live audience again. We did the show for 15 months without a live audience during COVID, and it was fine. People seemed to like it, compared to nothing, I suppose. But to me, it was like going onstage and reading sheet music as opposed to playing an instrument. It was like theoretically a comedy show. So I think that’s a great idea, Jay. Please send me a list of what my best jokes have been. And let’s hit the road together. You drive.