The sign for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has turned up on the roof of a restaurant.
The decorative lighting fixture was auctioned off in April after CBS pulled the plug on one of the longest-running late-night franchises in U.S. television. The decision was hailed as a victory by President Donald Trump, whose notoriously thin-skinned reaction to criticism has helped to inspire a crackdown against dissenting voices on mainstream TV.
Restaurateur Jeff Douek swooped in to purchase the sign for $102,100 before installing it on the rooftop of his WeHo Bistro in West Hollywood, California, this week. The sign is 12 feet long, 8 feet 6 inches high, and 9 inches deep.
In a social media post, he showed the installation. Workers were also seen draping a banner that reads, “Thank you Stephen Colbert for all the magic.”
“For more than a decade, millions of people welcomed Stephen Colbert into their evenings through The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Douek wrote in an Instagram post announcing the sign’s new home.
“The iconic sign that welcomed viewers to so many unforgettable nights has now found a new home right here in the heart of West Hollywood.”
Douek added, “Thank you, Stephen Colbert, for the laughter, intelligence, kindness, and magic you’ve shared with all of us over the years.”
Douek said that once he discovered the winning bid would be donated to food charity World Central Kitchen, “we knew it should remain somewhere it could continue to be seen, appreciated, and shared with everyone.”
The sign attracted 170 bids, according to Late Nighter. It will stay outside for a couple of weeks before being moved to its permanent home on a wall inside the restaurant, Douek said.
In April, Colbert put the sign up for sale on his show, in a segment called “Late Show Home Shopping” alongside special guest Jon Stewart.
“Buy this,” Colbert quipped, “and, like me, you can have The Late Show hanging over your head for the rest of your life.”
