Stephen Colbert is leaving late night on a high note.
Two months after CBS made the controversial decision to cancel “The Late Show,” the series won its very first Emmy for Outstanding Talk Series during Sunday night’s awards show.
The audience at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater erupted into cheers as Colbert took the stage to accept the honor. There was no hint of bitterness as he began his speech by thanking CBS for “giving us the privilege to be part of the late-night tradition.”
While the network said ending “The Late Show” was a “purely financial decision” back in July, some have speculated that Colbert got canned for political reasons.
Always a staunch critic of President Donald Trump, the host took on CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, after it settled a fishy multimillion lawsuit from the president around the same time the entertainment giant was seeking approval for its merger with Skydance Media.
Though many saw the abrupt cancellation of “The Late Show” as a warning to those who dare criticize the Trump administration, Colbert’s takes have only gotten more defiant since the decision was announced.
But on Sunday, he struck a measured and, at times, patriotic tone.
Recalling how he had once dreamed about making a late-night comedy show “about love” when he took the reins back in 2015, Colbert said he only later realized his show was much more about “loss.”
He described the feelings as inseparable, however, saying, “Sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense that you might be losing it.”
“Ten years later, in September of 2025, my friends, I have never loved my country more desperately,” Colbert continued. “God bless America. Stay strong, be brave, and if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor.”
For more highlights from the 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards, check out HuffPost’s liveblog.