Conan O’Brien stopped by The Late Show on Monday night to remind Stephen Colbert of some sage advice he shared before stepping away from late-night television four years ago. Colbert is set to become a late-night veteran himself, as CBS announced the end of The Late Show in May 2026.
“Just as I was leaving my late-night show, I took you and the other late-night hosts to a Sizzler restaurant,” O’Brien recalled. “I told you all, ‘Take care of late night. If you take care of late night, late night will take care of you.’ I also warned, ‘Don’t do anything to ruffle any feathers,’ and, ‘Whatever you do, don’t speak truth to power. Cowardice is the way.’”
O’Brien joked that during his 28 years hosting, he “never read the news. I had a masturbating bear and a plastic dog. I didn’t even know who was president!” The audience roared with laughter as Colbert dryly replied, “Thanks for being here, Conan.”
On a more heartfelt note, O’Brien said, “I adore you, Stephen. I love you both as a person and a comedic force. Like many, I’m very sad this chapter is ending.”
“But,” he added, “you’re going to do amazing things and have a lot of fun. The connection you have with your audience — and this goes for Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon, too — is very special. No one else owns that. It’s yours for life.”
Late-night TV is undergoing a reckoning after CBS canceled Colbert’s Late Show and took Jimmy Kimmel Live off the air following Kimmel’s controversial comments about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. After Kimmel’s suspension was recently lifted, Colbert celebrated on air: “Our long national late nightmare is over. Wonderful news for my dear friend Jimmy and his amazing staff.”
Watch Conan O’Brien’s full interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert below.
Read full article here: Variety
