{"id":1167,"date":"2026-05-07T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/2026\/05\/07\/stephen-colbert-gets-grilled-by-his-fellow-late-night-hosts\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T16:00:00","slug":"stephen-colbert-gets-grilled-by-his-fellow-late-night-hosts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/2026\/05\/07\/stephen-colbert-gets-grilled-by-his-fellow-late-night-hosts\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Colbert Gets Grilled by His Fellow Late Night Hosts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n

As he prepares to leave ‘The Late Show,’ THR\u2019s cover star fields questions from the only people who really know the job \u2014 fellow kings of the after-hours realm.<\/p>\n<\/header>\n

\n
\n

\t\u201cNo fucking way, you got a question from Jay Leno?\u201d says Stephen Colbert.<\/p>\n

\tAs his own late-night tenure nears its end \u2014 a cancelation that shocked the industry and its host \u2014 THR<\/em> reached out to fellow hosts, past and present, including Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O\u2019Brien, to help bolster our exit interview.<\/a> 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\u2019ve walked in his shoes.<\/p>\n

\tWith a few exceptions, including Leno, whom Colbert has fond memories of<\/a>, 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. \u201cI came up to my office [after making the on-air announcement], and flipped on my phone and we did a quick exchange,\u201d Colbert recalls. \u201cMy favorite was Kimmel, who just said, \u2018That\u2019s a hell of an Emmy campaign.\u2019 I said, \u2018Busted.\u2019 And then I think they might have laid bets on who was next.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tTheir 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\u2019s 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\u2019Brien, for his part, asks, simply: \u201cJust who the hell do you think you are?\u201d <\/p>\n