John Oliver used an extended comic bit on Last Week Tonight to roast Stephen Colbert’s CBS replacement, Byron Allen.
After the curtains closed on Colbert’s Late Show, his network replaced the host’s 11:35 p.m. slot with Allen’s Comics Unleashed. Allen, a billionaire businessman and stand-up comic, purchased Colbert’s annual airtime from CBS for $15 million.
While Allen assured viewers he is “not trying to replace Colbert” or “hold on to his audience,” Oliver–Colbert’s fellow late-night host and friend–made it clear that he is unimpressed with the comic taking over.
Oliver went on what seemed like a tangential rant on Sunday’s episode of Last Week Tonight. The HBO host began by hypothesizing about what would happen if actors slept with the animated characters they themselves have voiced.
“Doesn’t every voice actor wonder what it’d be like to have sex with the cartoon character that they voice? I know I have,” he said, referring to his roles as Vanity Smurf in the Smurfs franchise and Zazu in 2019’s The Lion King.
“It’s not because I find it arousing. I don’t. But you can’t tell me that you wouldn’t be curious what it’d be like to kiss someone and hear your own voice coming out of their mouth. It would be so strange,” Oliver continued. The bit went on for nearly two minutes, as he postulated the implications of hearing his “own pleasure noises” during intercourse.
“You know, after a lot of thought and consideration, ultimately I think I would be able to power through and have sex with Vanity Smurf and Zazu, but I’d feel really guilty about it afterward, and I’m not totally sure why,” Oliver explained.
“Anyway, I would love to talk about this more, but we don’t have time,” he said, gearing up for a takedown. “So, I’ll just conclude by saying this: let’s see Byron Allen do that on Comics Unleashed,” Oliver quipped, projecting an image of Allen for his audience.
The drive-by at Allen came after Oliver already paid tribute to Colbert in the opening credits of his show.
Days after Late Night concluded, CBS celebrated Allen’s new spot on the network.
“We’re proud to partner with Byron Allen on a new business and programming model for late night that proactively addresses a network daypart that was cost-prohibitive to continue,” the network said in a statement, going on to explain the financial costs they have saved with this decision.
CBS insisted that Colbert’s cancellation was “purely a financial decision,” although many have seen the move as a way of bending to the Trump administration, which the late-night host has routinely criticized.
Colbert’s departure was widely condemned by Hollywood, the media and his peers, including Oliver. The two are part of an informal coalition of America’s five prominent late-night hosts, along with Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and Jimmy Fallon. The group appeared on one of Colbert’s final episodes to discuss the future of late-night TV and bid adieu to the CBS host, who ended his show on May 21.
