Colbert’s Bruce Springsteen Late Show Performance Ends May 21
Stephen Colbert’s bruce springsteen late show performance run is heading toward its final night on May 21, ending more than 10 years at the desk. CBS said last July that The Late Show would finish the following May, and Colbert’s departure will leave viewers with one of late night’s more earnest interview styles.
May 21 at 11:35 p.m.
Colbert’s exit lands in a slot that has long been shaped by fast clips and sharper political monologues, which makes his approach feel different by comparison. The show’s final season has been described as slightly odd and funereal, a tone that fits a host leaving after more than a decade of building a room where long conversations still mattered.
That has been visible in the bookings. During the coronavirus pandemic, Colbert had Joe Biden on to discuss how to handle grief. He also talked about his Catholic faith with Dua Lipa and asked Michelle Obama to do an impression of Barack Obama. With Saoirse Ronan, he was delighted to hear her speak in her native Irish accent.
Christopher Nolan Earlier This Month
Earlier this month, Christopher Nolan came on The Late Show to present the trailer for The Odyssey, and Colbert greeted him with a line that fit the show’s loose, self-aware rhythm: “I know you don’t do this very often—don’t do the late-night shows,” he said. Nolan shot back, “Only you, actually,” then added, “You don’t have to tell me, because I wouldn’t know what the hell you were saying.”
The exchange captured what the show has offered for more than 10 years: not just promotion, but a place where guests could be met with curiosity instead of a hard sell. That is the part that disappears on May 21, and it matters because CBS is ending the program for financial reasons tied to changing viewer behavior, not because the format ran out of room on its own.
Paramount Skydance and Trump
The ending also arrives with wider pressure around CBS’s parent company, Paramount Skydance, which had recently settled a lawsuit with President Trump over a 60 Minutes interview and was angling for government approval of a potential takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. The president has made it clear that he is no fan of Colbert, which is one reason the host’s forced departure drew eyebrows long before the final night was set.
By the time May 21 arrives, the practical change for viewers is simple: one of the last late-night hosts still willing to lean into sincerity will be gone from 11:35 p.m., and that leaves a narrower lane for interviews that try to stretch beyond the usual promo cycle.
