David Letterman returned one final time to the present he began 33 years in the past.
Letterman, 79, bid farewell to The Late Present on Thursday, Might 14, as he joined present host Stephen Colbert to reminisce in regards to the previous days. Letterman launched The Late Present in 1993 and retired in 2015, paving the way in which for Colbert, now 62, to take over.
“I’ve each proper to be pissed off, so I’ll be pissed off right here just a little bit. You people wouldn’t be on this theater if it weren’t for me, and Stephen wouldn’t be right here if it weren’t for me,” Letterman stated about returning to the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York Metropolis. “We rebuilt this theater, after which Stephen got here in, and take a look at this. It’s just like the Bellagio [hotel]. You may take a person’s present, however you may’t a person’s voice.”
Letterman then joked about Colbert’s fellow late-night speak present hosts Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel.
“You realize what I’m actually nervous about? What is going to turn out to be of the Jimmys? Are they going to be all proper?” he requested.
Later within the episode, Letterman and Colbert made their method to the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater to destroy CBS property forward of The Late Present’s last week on air.
“I believed perhaps tonight’s event can be just a little unhappy, being the top of your run right here, however this brings true pleasure to my coronary heart. We’re up right here for the wanton destruction of CBS property,” Letterman stated earlier than he and Colbert proceeded to toss each Colbert’s desk chair and the blue couch chairs utilized by friends from atop the venue.
Colbert then joked that CBS despatched him and Letterman a cake studying “The Late Present 1993-2026,” which additionally they proceeded to launch to the bottom beneath.
CBS introduced the cancellation of The Late Present in July 2025. Colbert’s last episode is about to air on Thursday, Might 21.
“The Late Present With Stephen Colbert will finish its historic run in Might 2026 on the finish of the printed season. We contemplate Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and can retire the Late Present franchise at the moment,” CBS stated in a press release. “We’re proud that Stephen known as CBS house. He and the printed can be remembered within the pantheon of greats that graced late evening tv.”
CBS stated the transfer was purely “monetary” and never “associated in any method to the present’s efficiency, content material or different issues taking place at Paramount.” (CBS’ father or mother firm, Paramount, was acquired by Skydance Media in August 2025.)
In an interview with The New York Occasions earlier in Might, Letterman disagreed that the present was canceled for monetary causes.
Stephen Colbert has seen all of it as a late-night speak present host — however even he couldn’t predict how lovely Michelle Williams can be upon their first assembly. Throughout the Wednesday, Might 13, episode of the “Strike Power 5” podcast, Colbert, 62, dished about which of his previous friends on The Late Present With Stephen […]
“He was dumped as a result of the individuals promoting the community to Skydance stated, ‘Oh no, there’s not going to be any hassle with that man. We’re going to care for the present. We’re simply going to throw that into the deal. When will the ink on the test dry,’” Letterman claimed.
He added, “I’m simply going to go on report as saying: They’re mendacity. Let me simply add one different factor. … They’re mendacity weasels.”
For its half, CBS advised the Occasions that the present’s cancellation was “unequivocally a monetary resolution.”
