What is Stephen Colbert’s new gig on CBS? Details explored amid The Late Show’s cancellation controversy

SNL50: The Anniversary Special - Source: Getty
SNL50: The Anniversary Special - Source: Getty

Stephen Colbert's The Late Show might be coming to an unfortunate end, but it doesn't mark the talk show host's end with CBS. He will still be working with the broadcasting company, but in quite a different role and capacity.

Colbert, as reported by Vulture, will be guest-starring in the upcoming third season of Elsbeth. Elsbeth is an acclaimed crime anthology from Robert and Michelle King. And the interesting part is that he won’t be playing himself and in fact, will appear as Scotty Bristol, who is a host of the fictional talk show Way Late With Scotty Bristol.

This doesn't come as a surprise, as back in February, on an episode of his talk show, Stephen Colbert had told Wendell Pierce from Elsbeth, who was the guest on the show for that episode, that he’d always wanted to play a corpse on one of CBS’ crime dramas.

Pierce then offered to help and told Colbert:

“I can make that happen. I know a guy who knows a guy. We can get you on.”

And the role came right as the show was picked up for a third season.


Why was The Late Show with Stephen Colbert cancelled

Stephen Colbert's talk show had a very controversial cancellation. Though the network claimed the reason to be financial pressures, speculation states that it could be the controversial jokes Colbert made. The comedian is known for his tongue-in-cheek commentary that often leads to upsetting subjects and viral moments. One of those moments is allegedly the reason the show is being canceled.

Due to the timing of the entire altercation, fans of the show were left confused and suspicious. Two weeks before the cancellation, CBS's parent company, Paramount, had settled a $16 million lawsuit with President Trump, which he filed against CBS News.

Colbert called out the deal in a segment of the show as a joke, calling the settlement "a big fat bribe” on air. Along with that, he also took shots at both Trump and the company in the same monologue, while debuting his new summer moustache.

After the cancellation, he went ahead and expressed:

"I delivered a blistering monologue during which I had the courage to have a mustache. CBS saw my upper lip, and Boom! Canceled! Coincidence? Oh, I think not. This is worse than fascism. This is 'stache-ism."

The news of the ending was announced by Stephen Colbert 3 days after the initial jokes.

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Edited by Sarah Nazamuddin Harniswala