Stephen Colbert Says He Made ‘The Late Show’ More Political After His Producer Told Him ‘That’s the Part the Audience Wants to See’

Apr 28, 2026 7:45pm PT Stephen Colbert Says He Made ‘The Late Show’ More Political After His Producer Told Him ‘That’s the Part the Audience Wants to See’

By Jack Dunn

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Jack Dunn

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Stephen Colbert recently told The New York Times that, after an uneven first couple of months of “The Late Show,” his producer encouraged him to lean back into his political roots.

Colbert said at first, the plan was to back away from politics after his transition from “The Colbert Report” to “The Late Show.” He explained to NYT, “It was my instinct to be less topical, because I didn’t want to have to engage with what I saw was an increasingly contentious public discourse. And I thought, ‘Aren’t there other ways to have fun with the audience?’”

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