Stephen Colbert hosts Michigan public access show day after last appearance on Late Show

After his last appearance on CBS as host of The Late Show, Stephen Colbert continued his television hosting duties – on a public access show in Michigan.

Colbert on Friday night hosted Only in Monroe in Monroe, Michigan, just one day after signing off from The Late Show. Colbert had been the host of The Late Show since 2015 and his tenure came to an end this week after CBS canceled the 33-year-old network staple, due to a “financial decision” by CBS’s parent company, Paramount.

Colbert previously stopped by Monroe, Michigan, and guest-hosted Only in Monroe for an episode in 2015, just before he began hosting The Late Show. In that episode, he interviewed the famous Michigan rapper Eminem.

On Friday evening, Colbert was back to take another “Michigander”. Jack White and Jeff Daniels joined Colbert on the public access show, with special appearances from Steve Buscemi, Eminem and Byron Allen.

“It’s been an excruciating 23 hours without being on TV, so I am grateful to be able to be here on Monroe Community Media before they also get acquired by Paramount,” Colbert quipped on Friday.

Colbert took over The Late Show in 2015 from David Letterman, after hosting Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report for years.

The Late Show’s last episode this week featured Paul McCartney and other celebrities, culminating in a final goodbye with the show’s entire crew as they turned off the lights in the Ed Sullivan Theater.

Last year, Paramount announced it would be canceling The Late Show as it sought approval from the Trump administration for an $8bn merger with the Hollywood studio Skydance. The merger deal was delayed for months, due to a lawsuit Trump filed against the CBS news show 60 Minutes over an interview the network aired with Kamala Harris.

Paramount agreed last summer to settle the lawsuit with Trump, promising a $16m donation to Trump’s future presidential library. Colbert called the settlement a “big fat bribe”.

Colbert had been one of the most outspoken late-night hosts who continued to criticize Trump and his administration. Critics saw the show’s cancellation as a move to further appease the Trump administration as the Paramount-Skydance merger waited for federal approval. Late-night shows have been losing viewership and revenue for years.

Trump on Friday night posted an AI-generated video online, showing him grabbing Colbert, picking him up and throwing him into a dumpster. In the video, Trump proceeds to dance while a studio audience claps.

Trump has also gone on the offensive against other late-night hosts in the past year, urging other networks to fire hosts, such as ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel and NBC’s Seth Meyers. He has also attempted to weaponize the Federal Communications Commission to strip broadcast networks of their licenses.

“Stephen Colbert’s firing from CBS was the ‘Beginning of the End’ for untalented, nasty, highly overpaid, not funny, and very poorly rated Late Night Television Hosts,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Others, of even less talent, to soon follow. May they all Rest in Peace!”