Stephen Colbert and his team at the since-canceled “Late Show” took home six Emmy Awards on Monday, including the prize for Outstanding Variety Series.
Colbert didn’t mention longtime nemesis and frequent “Late Show” punch line President Donald Trump at all during his speech, instead using the platform to urge people to hire his writing team.
And he was in no hurry to talk about the president after the ceremony, either.
“Do you think your show was canceled because of Donald Trump?” Variety’s Ramin Setoodeh asked backstage.
“What?” Colbert said, then quickly turned to CNN’s Elizabeth Wagmeister, who was standing on his other side.
“That’s a beautiful dress. That’s amazing,” he told Wagmeister.
“I believe he had a question,” Wagmeister said, laughing.
“What? Oh, I’m sorry, I’m deaf in this ear,” Colbert ― who is, in fact, deaf in that ear ― said to Setoodeh. “What did you say?”
But before Setoodeh could repeat the question, Colbert changed the subject again.
“You wanted to know who the most important member of my staff was?” he said. “It’s me!”
Check out the exchange below:
When his show was on the air, Colbert frequently used his nightly monologue to poke at the president, who didn’t like it at all. Trump has frequently attacked and threatened late-night comedy shows and often singled out Colbert. He even demanded that CBS cancel “The Late Show,” which it ultimately did.
The network claimed it was “purely a financial decision,” but the move came as corporate parent Paramount was seeking Federal Communications Commission permission to complete a massive merger.