“How is your boat?”: Josh Brolin jokingly teases Stephen Colbert about the cancellation of 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'

During a recent episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, actress Julia Garner appeared to promote her upcoming film Weapons, and brought along a video message from her co-star Josh Brolin. The message, recorded specifically for Colbert, included a playful jab referencing the upcoming end of the show.

“How’s your boat? Now that you don’t have a job, you’ll be able to spend more time on the boat,” Brolin said, smiling into the camera.

The comment referenced CBS’s announcement from July 2025 that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert would end after the 2025–2026 season. Brolin’s message also included a brief reminder for Colbert to finally watch The Goonies, a film Colbert previously admitted he had never seen.

The moment was shared on air during Garner’s interview and elicited laughter from the host and the audience. Colbert acknowledged Brolin’s message and joked that it was the shortest one he had ever received from him.

Garner mentioned that Brolin often sends her similar videos that are long, scattered, and usually filmed while driving. Colbert confirmed the same, adding that Brolin is “unpredictable” and his messages can run up to 15 minutes.

Colbert reacts to Josh Brolin’s comments during Julia Garner’s interview

When Julia Garner appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, she mentioned that Josh Brolin often sends her random video messages, sometimes recorded in his car, and said she had brought one along to share with Colbert. The video was pre-recorded and played during the interview.

In the clip, Brolin started by asking Colbert to “be nice to our girl,” referring to Garner and her role in their upcoming film Weapons. Brolin praised her work in the film and said she was “really, really good.” He then pivoted to a joke aimed directly at Colbert’s current career situation, asking,

“How’s your boat? Now that you don’t have a job, you’ll be able to spend more time on the boat.”

The audience laughed, and Colbert smiled but did not directly respond on-air to the job comment.

The boat reference was made in context of CBS’s announcement weeks earlier that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert would end in May 2026. While CBS labeled the move a financial decision, the timing coincides with broader internal restructuring and a merger between Paramount Global and Skydance.

Colbert confirmed Julia Garner's assertion that he, too, receives messages from Brolin that are long and unpredictable, at times lasting 15 minutes, and he noted that the one played on the show was the shortest one he had received.

Toward the end of the message, Brolin added another jab.

“Watch the f**king Goonies, man,” he said.

This was a reference to a past conversation from 2022, when Brolin appeared on The Late Show and learned that Colbert had never seen The Goonies, the 1985 movie that launched Brolin’s career.

At the time, Josh Brolin said it was “so sad” that Colbert had never watched it and urged him to fix that. Colbert had responded back then by promising to watch it and let Brolin know. That conversation was never brought up again until this video message.

The current video was filmed for the specific purpose of Garner’s appearance. It was not posted separately on Brolin’s social media or shared publicly outside of the show. CBS has not released any formal clip of the message on its YouTube channel as of now.

Garner’s appearance and the Josh Brolin message were part of a promotional run for Weapons, which is scheduled to release in September 2025. The film is directed by Zach Cregger and marks one of Brolin’s major post-Dune roles. Neither CBS nor Colbert has addressed the joke beyond airing the clip.

Colbert has continued hosting new episodes without commenting further on the show’s cancellation. No replacement for The Late Show has been announced yet, and CBS has not confirmed whether the late-night slot will be filled with another program. The show remains on the schedule through the 2025–2026 broadcast season.

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