As Stephen Colbert began his final week hosting the “Late Show,” he took viewers on a nostalgic journey, revealing some behind-the-scenes moments that never made it on air. Among these was a graphic proclaiming Hillary Clinton as the victor of the 2016 presidential race, a title that eventually went to Donald Trump.
In a segment humorously dubbed “Graphics Graveyard,” named after the Slack channel where “Late Show” team members discarded unsuccessful concepts, Colbert introduced the audience to the Clinton graphic for the first time.
The image portrayed a beaming Clinton as the declared “Winner” of the 45th presidential election, a result that history would show differently.
After showcasing the Clinton visual, a member of the graphics team wryly quipped, “Oh, grow up. It all worked out fine,” injecting some humor into the reflection.
Monday night’s episode, cleverly titled “The Worst of the Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” also featured a slew of other unused graphics, sketches, and ideas from the archives.
Among the rejected designs were a comedic “Thanksgiving porn magazine” dubbed “Giblets” and a satirical “Martha Stewart Living” cover with the headline “Donner party or dinner party.”
Colbert’s nearly 11-year “Late Show” run will come to a close on Thursday, after more than 1,800 episodes on CBS.
Tuesday’s episode will feature “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart, filmmaker Steven Spielberg and a special performance by Talking Heads frontman David Byrne and Colbert.
Wednesday’s episode will feature unspecified special guests throughout the night and a performance from Bruce Springsteen. The finale’s programming remains unclear.
CBS’s decision to end “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” sparked uproar in the entertainment community and led to claims that Paramount Global was trying to appease Trump while finalizing its merger with Skydance Media.
The network has denied that political motivations fueled the choice, maintaining that the move was purely financial over the show’s reported $40 million annual loss.
Critics, including David Letterman and fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, have remained skeptical over the reasoning, particularly given Paramount’s efforts to secure regulatory approval for the Skydance deal.
Letterman, who launched “The Late Show” in 1993 and hosted it for more than two decades before Colbert took over in 2015, marched back into the Ed Sullivan Theater on Thursday and blasted the network’s decision to axe the late-night special.
The pair capped the blistering segment by tossing couches, office chairs, watermelons and a wedding cake off the roof of the landmark Manhattan theater.
Trump celebrated Colbert’s cancellation on Truth Social, writing that he “absolutely love[d] that Colbert got fired” while claiming the comedian had less “talent” than his ratings.
