Stephen Colbert disclosed a hard-earned lesson after a turbulent year in late-night TV.
The host appeared on CNN’s “New Year’s Eve Live” with Andy Cohen, 57, and Anderson Cooper, 58, when Cohen drunkenly asked Colbert, 61, about the “major lesson” he learned in the past year—a question Cooper had apparently warned him not to ask.
Colbert’s answer was blunt: “Don’t trust billionaires.”
“They don’t get rich by finding that money on the side of the road, brother,” he added.
The late-night host’s answer, given in the final hour of 2025, came after CBS canceled his show earlier that year.
In July, Colbert revealed that The Late Show, which he had hosted since 2015 after taking over from David Letterman, had been canceled by CBS, with executives calling it “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”
The cancellation came as CBS’s parent company, Paramount, was in the process of being acquired by Skydance, owned by billionaire David Ellison, and shortly after Paramount paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit with President Donald Trump over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris.
“As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I’m offended, and I don’t know if anything will ever repair my trust in this company,” Colbert said on the show just days before it was canceled.
In September, the host appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! as the two discussed their late-night shows being pulled from the air.
Jimmy Kimmel’s show was temporarily pulled off the air by ABC after a monologue he delivered about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk failed to impress FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. It returned after three episodes, unlike Colbert’s show, which is set to end in May 2026, with CBS standing by its decision.
When Cohen asked about the “vibe” the late-night host has heading into the new year, Colbert replied with optimism.
“Everything is just fantastic. I’m just going to keep that attitude every day,” Colbert said, before adding that he is “happy to be doing the show with everybody” and that “we’re going to get these bastards.”
At the end of their conversation, Cohen told Colbert, “You’re a martyr of free speech.”
