Stephen Colbert kicked off his final week of The Late Show with a tribute to his graphics team, revealing a dark joke about Hillary Clinton that never made it to air.
Graphics Graveyard Segment
During Monday's episode, Colbert brought out Andro Buneta, head of the arts department, to review some of the best graphics that were cut. 'Every day at The Late Show, our graphics team churns out hundreds of premium visuals projected onto your TV screens,' Colbert said. 'And every single day I throw about half of them in the garbage.' In a segment called 'Graphics Graveyard,' named after the team's group chat, Colbert revisited jokes that were never aired.
He pointed to an image prepared for Hillary Clinton winning the 2016 election to become the 45th president. Instead, Donald Trump defeated Clinton. 'This was the darkest version of the graphics graveyard,' Colbert said, as the audience groaned. He quipped, 'Oh, grow up! It all worked out fine.'
Other Cut Graphics
Other humorous graphics included an edited cover of Martha Stewart's Living magazine with the headline 'Donner or Dinner Party,' and a spoof pornographic magazine titled Gibblets featuring a turkey in a bra. Buneta explained that cut mock-ups were printed and displayed on the wall, and later shared in a Slack channel for everyone to enjoy.
End of an Era
CBS's long-running Late Show franchise will end on Thursday. The network announced its cancellation last July, days after Colbert criticized parent company Paramount for a $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump over accusations that 60 Minutes deceptively edited a 2024 interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. CBS maintains the decision was purely financial, but many politicians and celebrities suggested it was politically motivated.
Colbert told The New York Times he was caught off guard by the cancellation, as CBS had encouraged him to sign a five-year contract in 2023. 'I do not dispute their rationale. I do make jokes about it,' he said. 'But I also completely understand why people would say (A) that doesn't make sense to me and (B) that seems fishy to me, because the network did it to themselves by bending the knee to the Trump administration over a $20 billion, settled for $16 million, completely frivolous lawsuit.' He acknowledged that two things can be true: broadcast is in trouble due to streaming competition, but the network's eagerness for a long-term contract changed abruptly.
