The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, held on Sunday, September 14, 2025, in Los Angeles, delivered a moment that few in the television industry will soon forget. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert clinched its first-ever Emmy for Outstanding Talk Series, a win that resonated far beyond the walls of the Peacock Theater and echoed through a late-night landscape fraught with change, controversy, and, as it turns out, a fair bit of camaraderie.
For Stephen Colbert, the win was bittersweet. CBS had announced just two months earlier, in July 2025, that The Late Show would be canceled after its current season, marking the end of an era for both Colbert and the network. The news was met with widespread criticism and speculation about the real motives behind the decision, especially given Colbert’s outspoken criticism of President Donald Trump and the timing of the Paramount-Skydance merger, which was under federal scrutiny. According to Esquire US and Vanity Fair, many—including the Writers Guild of America—suspected that Colbert’s firing was less about ratings and more about politics, a “bribe” to curry favor with the Trump administration.
Yet on Emmy night, the politics and bitterness gave way, at least temporarily, to a celebration of the work itself. Colbert took the stage surrounded by dozens of his colleagues, delivering a nearly two-minute acceptance speech that was as gracious as it was poignant. He thanked the 200 professionals who had shaped the show since its 2015 debut, his family, and dedicated the award to his late assistant, Amy Cole, who had passed away in March at just 53.
Colbert’s speech struck a chord, not just for its gratitude but for its reflection on the show’s evolving mission. He recounted a conversation with filmmaker Spike Jonze from the show’s earliest days: “I’d kind of like to do a late-night comedy show that was about love,” Colbert recalled. But, as he explained, the show soon became about something deeper. “At a certain point, and you can guess what that point was, I realized that in some ways we were doing a late-night comedy show about loss. And that’s related to love, because sometimes you only truly know something when you get the sense that you might be losing it.”
With the nation facing political upheaval, two Trump presidencies, the January 6 insurrection, the Covid-19 pandemic, and labor strikes that rocked Hollywood, Colbert’s message felt especially timely. He closed with a message that was both patriotic and defiant: “I have never loved my country more desperately. God bless America. Stay strong, be brave, and if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor.” The crowd responded with multiple standing ovations, a rare show of unity in a divided time, as reported by PBS and NBC News.
Backstage, the mood among late-night hosts was lighter, even playful. On Monday night, September 15, 2025, John Oliver joined Jimmy Kimmel on Jimmy Kimmel Live! for a post-Emmys debrief. Both their shows had been nominated in the same category—though neither had ever won. Oliver admitted, with typical mischief, that while “the right thing to happen was for [Colbert] to win,” a part of him wanted to see Kimmel’s reaction if he had won instead: “The funniest thing to happen would have been if you had won…just wanted to see your face go, ‘Oh, no. Not like this.’”
Kimmel laughed, recalling a moment of panic on Emmy night. One of his writers’ drivers, not watching the ceremony, had checked ChatGPT for the results and mistakenly texted Kimmel that his show had won. “I’m like, well, this is not right, obviously. And then I was like, oh, no, do they know something? And I was like, oh, [bleep], if we win, this is a disaster.” Oliver gleefully imagined the backlash: “You’d have been booed onto the stage…You can see why a part of me, that as I’m saying it is now getting bigger, did kind of want that to happen.”
The camaraderie and self-deprecating humor between Kimmel and Oliver stood in stark contrast to the high-stakes drama surrounding Colbert’s win. But even in jest, their relief that Colbert had triumphed was palpable. As Kimmel put it, “We were all very happy. I know we wanted him to win.”
Colbert’s victory, however, was shadowed by the circumstances of The Late Show’s impending end. After more than 30 nominations over a decade, the Emmy was both a long-overdue recognition and a parting gift. CBS’s decision to cancel the show, announced just days after Colbert criticized Paramount’s $16 million settlement with President Trump—calling it a “big fat bribe”—was seen by many as a capitulation to political pressure. Trump himself reportedly said he “absolutely loved that Colbert got fired,” a sentiment that only fueled the controversy, according to Vox and The Guardian.
For Colbert, the show’s cancellation was not just a professional setback but a symbol of the broader struggle over free speech and political expression in America. “It’s not just the end of our show, but it’s the end of The Late Show on CBS,” he told viewers in July. “I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away.” The Writers Guild of America and other observers decried the move, arguing it sent a chilling message about dissent and the price of speaking truth to power during a critical media merger.
Yet Colbert’s Emmy speech was anything but bitter. It was, as one former staffer described in NBC News, “the most unifying statement I have heard in months.” Rather than dwell on anger or resentment, Colbert chose to center his remarks on love—a love for his team, his family, and, most of all, his country. In a year marked by political polarization and violence, his message was a reminder that comedy, at its best, can bridge divides and offer hope.
As The Late Show prepares for its final episode in May 2026, Colbert remains a symbol of resilience and empathy in an industry—and a nation—hungry for both. His Emmy win may have been overdue, but its timing could not have been more poignant.
