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Stephen Colbert is officially signing off and ending his 11-year run on "The Late Show." Follow along for live updates from the show's series finale.
Follow live updates about the final episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” at Ed Sullivan Theater as CBS cancels the long-running late-night program.
Stephen Colbert hosted "The Late Show" for the final time Thursday night as the franchise came to an end after 33 years.
The final episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert drew 6.74 million viewers for CBS on Thursday, the most-ever for a weeknight episode, according to preliminary Nielsen data
It marks the show's most-watched weeknight episode of all time
A whopping 6.74 million people tuned in live to say goodbye to Stephen Colbert and "The Late Show" on CBS on May 21.
With a dash of sci-fi, Colbert ended his CBS late-night show with a powerful musical sendoff featuring Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello and Jon Batiste.
McCartney also helped close the show after original bandleader Jon Batiste and Elvis Costello headlined as performance that ended with Colbert saying goodnight. Before they signed off, though, McCartney appeared onstage, as he, Colbert and the other acts sang the Beatles’ classic “Hello, Goodbye” to close out the episode.
The final episode of Stephen Colbert's "The Late Show" is one more feather in the comedian's cap. It's not his final act.
This image released by CBS shows host Stephen Colbert on the set of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in New York on May 18, 2026. (Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via AP) Stephen Colbert attends The Hollywood Reporter’s The Most Powerful People in New York Media issue celebration at Daniel on Thursday,
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” went out on a literal high note. Thursday night’s series finale was the most-watched weeknight episode of Colbert’s eleven-year tenure on the show, according to overnight Nielsen ratings.
The host and his colleagues were joined by such luminaries as Anderson Cooper, Gayle King, Katie Couric, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mark Hamill, Tiffany Haddish, Drew Barrymore and the CBS host's final guest,