Stephen Colbert looked happier than ever as he celebrated a win at the 2026 Emmy Awards for his late night talk show, nearly four months after CBS's cancellation forced it off the air.
The comedian, 62, gave his wife, Evelyn McGee Colbert, 63, a sweet shoutout during his acceptance speech at the ceremony on Monday evening after The Late Show With Stephen Colbert won Outstanding Variety Series for its final season.
Colbert opened his speech by addressing the star-studded audience and thanking the many guests who had appeared on his show over its 11-year run. He closed by turning to his wife, who worked as a producer on the program.
"There can only be one favorite guest, and that is my wife, Evie McGee," Colbert said. "Thank you, darling. Thank you for being my only crew and my only guest during COVID, and my only audience, the only audience I really care about. Yours is the laugh I want for the rest of my life."
He also thanked the wider Late Show team. "Thank you so much on the behalf of the over 200 people who threw themselves at this show for 11 years to try to do the best show they possibly could for you," Colbert said, adding that late night television is a "fantastic incubator for young people to come in to learn to work professionally."
Colbert's next moves
On the red carpet the same day, Colbert addressed whether he might return to hosting a late night show, telling E! News that fellow hosts Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel currently have that space covered. "I think the Jimmys have got that locked down for right now," he said.
He said he has stayed busy since the Late Show ended. "For an unemployed person, I'm very busy," he told E! News.
His wife's take
McGee was also on the red carpet and said what tires her out is not her husband's busy schedule but rather "him forgetting to tell me things." She noted that Colbert has been working on the screenplay for the forthcoming film The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past. "There's no internet in Middle-earth, my man," she said.
Colbert and McGee have been married since 1993 and share three children: daughter Madeleine, 30, and sons Peter, 28, and John, 24.
A third Emmy for the Late Show
Monday's win marked the Late Show's third Emmy during Colbert's run as host. Earlier this month, the show also picked up several major wins on the first night of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, beating out Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver in that category. The show's final season received nine Emmy nominations overall.
Colbert took over the Late Show in 2015 after David Letterman retired. The show won its first Emmy last year, following 33 previous nominations.
The show's cancellation
CBS announced the cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert last year in July, and the show aired its farewell episode in May.
In a statement at the time, the network said: "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will end its historic run in May 2026 at the end of the broadcast season. We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire the Late Show franchise at that time. We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and his broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television."
CBS said the decision was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night" and added: "It is not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount." It was previously claimed that the show was losing $40 million a year.
The cancellation announcement came just days after Colbert delivered a furious on-air rant over Paramount, CBS's parent company, settling a $16 million lawsuit with President Trump.
