{"id":31695,"date":"2026-05-22T08:30:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T07:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=31695"},"modified":"2026-05-22T08:30:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T07:30:17","slug":"stephen-colbert-ends-the-late-show-with-paul-mccartney-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/stephen-colbert-ends-the-late-show-with-paul-mccartney-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Colbert Ends The Late Show With Paul McCartney Performance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEW YORK (FN) \u2014 Stephen Colbert signed off from The Late Show<\/em> on Thursday night with a surprise guest: Sir Paul McCartney. Together, the comedian and the legendary Beatle closed out the program\u2019s 33-year run at the Ed Sullivan Theater with a spirited performance of \u201cHello, Goodbye.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The finale capped Colbert\u2019s 11 seasons as host, following David Letterman\u2019s two-decade tenure. CBS announced last summer that the show would end, citing financial pressures in late-night television. The decision drew criticism from fans and even Letterman himself, who returned last week for one last rooftop stunt with Colbert \u2014 tossing furniture and watermelons onto a CBS logo, a nod to his own era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colbert opened the final broadcast with his trademark monologue, insisting it would be \u201cbusiness as usual\u201d rather than a sentimental farewell. Celebrity cameos from Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd, and Ryan Reynolds teased the mystery of who would be the last guest. At one point, Colbert joked that Pope Leo XIV was scheduled to appear, only for a staffer to announce the pontiff had refused to leave his dressing room. A hot dog tossed from behind the door was the only \u201cpapal\u201d sighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suspense ended when McCartney \u201chappened to be in the area\u201d and joined Colbert on stage. The two reminisced about The Beatles\u2019 historic appearances at the same theater in the 1960s and the band\u2019s first impressions of America. \u201cIt was where all the music we loved came from \u2014 rock \u2019n\u2019 roll, the blues, the whole thing,\u201d McCartney said. \u201cAmerica was just the land of the free, the greatest democracy. That\u2019s what it still is, hopefully.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The closing moments saw Colbert and McCartney backstage, turning off the lights of The Late Show<\/em> for good. Outside, fans gathered under the marquee with signs reading \u201cThank You Stephen\u201d and \u201cColbert for President.\u201d Some traveled long distances to witness the finale, including one woman who flew overnight from Amsterdam without sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the days leading up to the finale, Colbert was showered with tributes from Hollywood and his late-night peers. Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Stewart, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver all stopped by. Fallon and Kimmel even declined to air new episodes on Thursday night in solidarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colbert\u2019s run was marked by sharp political commentary, particularly his criticism of President Donald Trump. While some speculated that political pressure played a role in CBS\u2019s decision to cancel the show, the network maintained the move was \u201cpurely financial\u201d and unrelated to content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Launched in 1993 with Letterman, The Late Show<\/em> became a cornerstone of American late-night television. Colbert\u2019s finale, blending humor, nostalgia, and music, closed the curtain on one of the medium\u2019s most influential stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (FN) \u2014 Stephen Colbert signed off from The Late Show on Thursday night with a surprise guest: Sir Paul McCartney. Together, the comedian and the legendary Beatle closed out the program\u2019s 33-year run at the Ed Sullivan Theater with a spirited performance of \u201cHello, Goodbye.\u201d The finale capped Colbert\u2019s 11 seasons as host, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":31696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,2096,776,4,478,5],"tags":[17193,17191,17190,17194,17192,17188,17187,17189],"class_list":["post-31695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-economics","category-educational","category-featured","category-financial","category-international","tag-beatles-history","tag-cbs-television","tag-david-letterman","tag-ed-sullivan-theater","tag-late-night-tv","tag-paul-mccartney","tag-stephen-colbert","tag-the-late-show"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot_22-5-2026_8170_www.bbc_.com_.jpeg?fit=919%2C496&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31695"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31698,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31695\/revisions\/31698"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}