Read What Colbert Said In His Emotional Final Episode Message To Audience

BreakingBusinessRead What Colbert Said In His Emotional Final Episode Message To AudienceBySiladitya Ray,Forbes Staff. Siladitya Ray is a New Delhi-based Forbes news team reporter.Follow AuthorMay 22, 2026, 02:36am EDTToplineThe final broadcast of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” began with an emotional message from the host to his audience in the studio and those watching at home, in which Colbert described his show as a “joy machine” and reflected on doing it for over a decade. Stephen Colbert appears on stage for the final episode of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.CBS via Getty ImagesKey FactsIn a slight change in format, Thursday’s show began with a cold open in which Colbert spoke directly to the audience, both in the studio and at home.Colbert mentioned he does this before all his shows, solely for the studio audience, but on Thursday night, he wanted all of them to know, “It has been a joy for us to do the show for you.”The late-night host referred to his show as the “joy machine” in a two-minute-long segment, a reference to the show’s house band—Louis Cato and the Great Big Joy Machine.Colbert then turned to Cato to describe the show’s relationship with the audience, who then called it a “reciprocal emotional relationship.” if (!window.cnxel) { window.cnxel = {}; window.cnxel.cmd = []; var iframe = document.createElement('iframe'); iframe.style.display = 'none'; iframe.onload = function() { var iframeDoc = iframe.contentWindow.document; var script = iframeDoc.createElement('script'); script.src = '//cd.elements.video/player.js?cid=62cec241-7d09-4462-afc2-f72f8d8ef40a'; script.setAttribute('defer', '1'); script.setAttribute('type', 'text/javascript'); iframeDoc.body.appendChild(script); }; document.head.appendChild(iframe); const preloadResourcesEndpoint = 'https://cds.elements.video/a/preload-resources-ovp.json'; fetch(preloadResourcesEndpoint, { priority: 'low' }) .then(response => { if (!response.ok) { throw new Error('Network response was not ok',...