Colbert reveals honest feelings with Oprah Winfrey about 'Late Show' end

Brendan Morrow, USA TODAYWed, April 8, 2026 at 12:37 PM UTC

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Oprah Winfrey is turning the tables on Stephen Colbert.

The media mogul, 72, sat down on "The Late Show" on April 7 and decided to switch things up near the end of the appearance by interviewing her interviewer. "How are you feeling about the whole thing," she asked Colbert, referring to the fact that "The Late Show" will end in May after CBS canceled it in 2025. "Don't go Oprah on me, now," the comedian quipped.

But the two decided to lean into that by swapping places, with Winfrey taking a seat behind Colbert's desk, and Colbert sitting in the guest's chair. Winfrey probed Colbert further about the end of "The Late Show" by asking, "As you're standing here at the threshold of what's about to be done, and what you're stepping into, what do you feel like, in this moment, you most want to release?"

Oprah Winfrey appeared on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on April 7, 2026.

Colbert told her he isn't ready to let "anything go yet," as he still has a "white-knuckle grip on all these people who I love, who I've worked with all these years." This led Colbert and Winfrey, who held hands during the chat, to discuss one of the things he will miss most: his studio audience. Winfrey reflected that years after her own show ended, her audience is the thing she misses most.

Colbert agreed on the audience's importance, noting they play an important role as the "third person" in a conversation between him and his guests by listening and reacting naturally. "The audience is very pure in their engagement in our conversation, and if you stay tuned to them, you know where the conversation is going," he said. "You know what's working."

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In fact, Colbert shared an amusing anecdote about how much he needs an audience, even when he's not on camera.

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"If there's somebody I need to talk to, like on a corporate level let's say, perhaps I need to say something to someone at the head office that the conversation's not going to go that well, I will ask my assistant, and someone else who works there, to come and sit in the desk across from me so I have an audience to hear me have the phone call, so that I will say what I actually feel, and actually deliver on what I want to say in the phone call, because the audience makes me do it more than I will make me do it," he said.

At the start of the interview, Winfrey told Colbert she wanted to come on the show one last time to say goodbye, calling the end of "The Late Show" "bittersweet." Colbert said that while the show ended "faster than I thought," he's enjoying the time he has left. "We're still having a really good time doing it," he said. They concluded the chat with Winfrey thanking Colbert for "holding the space for laughter."

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Colbert has hosted "The Late Show" since 2015, succeeding David Letterman on the CBS program after his Comedy Central show "The Colbert Report" ended in 2014. CBS announced in 2025 "The Late Show" would be canceled, citing a "challenging backdrop in late night." On April 6, CBS said "Comics Unleashed," a comedy talk show hosted by Byron Allen, will take over Colbert's time slot starting on May 22.

Stephen Colbert hosts "The Late Show" on March 30, 2026.

In March, Colbert got emotional about how much he will miss his writers on "The Late Show" as he accepted the honorary Walter Bernstein Award at the Writers Guild of America Awards' New York ceremony. "They are the best writing staff I have ever known at any show, and I have loved our time together, which wasn't as much time as I would like," he said.

Later that month, Colbert announced his surprising next move after "The Late Show": He'll write a new "Lord of the Rings" movie with his screenwriter son. In a video announcement with director Peter Jackson, Colbert noted he didn't think he'd have time to write the movie prior to his show's cancellation.

"I knew I couldn't do that and do this show at the same time, but it turns out, I'm going to be free starting this summer," Colbert said, adding, "So if you'll excuse me, I've got to finish a television show, and I've got to write a movie script, but I will see you all in The Shire."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stephen Colbert opens up about 'Late Show' end with Oprah Winfrey

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