Who is Amy Cole? Stephen Colbert thanks his late assistant in his Emmys acceptance speech

Despite the cancellation of his long-running late-night talk show on CBS, Stephen Colbert was a big winner at the 2025 Emmy Awards, as was Amy Cole. During his acceptance speech for his win in the “Outstanding Talk Series” category, Colbert went out of his way to mention Amy, a dear friend and longtime colleague who passed away in early 2024 following an illness.

"I want to dedicate this to my mom and dad, her mom and dad and a young woman who should be here tonight, Amy Cole."

Amy Cole worked as Stephen Colbert’s assistant for 16 years, as per PEOPLE, dating back to his time on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report. According to her obituary, she was originally from Houston and moved to New York City in 2002 to begin her career in network television.

Apart from her well-documented work with Stephen Colbert and the overall Late Show ecosystem, Amy Cole also contributed her time and efforts to several other projects, including Tough Crowd with legendary New York comedian and SNL alum Colin Quinn.

Amy Cole - A Background

Upon Amy Cole’s tragic death, Stephen Colbert was visibly shaken. Following an episode that aired after she passed, the showrunners aired a tribute title card for her at the end of the show’s broadcast, which read,

“Dedicated to our dear friend Amy Cole, 1970-2024.”

As per Deadline, Colbert was so affected by the news of her passing that instead of his signature sign-off, he opted for an abrupt “good night,” clearly an absence of his usual energy and gusto.

Amy Cole’s obituary reflected the reality of what working on the Late Show team truly meant to her.

“Working with Colbert for 16 years was more than a job to Amy. It gave her a purpose and provided an opportunity to showcase herself as an incredible teammate to everyone involved. She was adored by her entire Late Show work family, and she will be greatly missed.”

Interestingly, Jake Plunkett, the Late Show director and producer, even chimed in on the tragic loss via X at the time. His post read as follows,

“Words cannot measure how big a loss Amy Cole is to this world. F*ck cancer.”

Per Deadline reports, Amy Cole was survived by her mother, father, and two sisters.

Trending

For more on this story or other fresh and breaking news, check out SoapCentral for more!

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback