Staff Reports
Stephen Colbert used his “Worst Of” clip reel to remind viewers exactly why many Americans stopped tuning in. The late-night host admitted that, convinced Hillary Clinton would win in 2016, his team had painted “I’m With Her” on the buttocks of nude male models for a live special — and then frantically repainted them to read “We’re fucked” as the results rolled in. It was a gag, but it also doubled as a confession: late-night had become a political troupe, not a comedy show.
The Butt of the Joke: Colbert’s on-air admission
On his show’s final stretch, Colbert walked viewers through the backstage chaos. No commercial breaks, live on Showtime, and a bit planned around celebrating a Clinton win. When the race went the other way, producers reportedly shouted “Scrub the butts!” and tried to salvage the gag. It’s funny, if you’re looking for theater; it’s revealing, if you’re wondering why ratings slid and advertisers blinked at partisan late-night theater.
Late-night bias wears thin
Colbert’s anecdote isn’t just a one-off joke. He brought Hillary Clinton back over and over during President Trump’s first term, and his show often felt more like a campaign rally than a comedy hour. For viewers who wanted jokes instead of sermons, that got old fast. Networks used to balance big-name hosts with broad appeal; instead, we got monologues that sounded like press releases wrapped in sarcasm.
CBS calls it a financial decision — and that’s the point
CBS says the end of The Late Show was a “financial decision,” and that’s the honest line. When a program becomes a preaching platform, it narrows its audience. Advertisers follow eyeballs, and audiences follow content that entertains, not lectures. Replacing the show with apolitical standup and a game show is a tacit admission that viewers wanted comedy that doesn’t come with a political agenda painted on, well, people’s behinds.
What this moment tells us going forward
Colbert’s final riffs and backstage confessions are a neat microcosm of why late-night needs to return to humor first and politics second. If networks want profit, they should stop treating their stages as echo chambers. If hosts want to keep preaching, they can always run for office — at least then they’ll have to sell their policies honestly, not paint them on someone else’s rear. Either way, this episode should remind producers that audiences will vote with the remote, and that’s one poll you can’t scrub backstage.
