Stephen Colbert’s early career:
American comedian and actor Stephen Colbert was born in Washington, D.C., on May 13, 1964. He is best known for hosting the satirical television news programs The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015–) and The Colbert Report (2005–14). Examine how Stephen Colbert influenced the development of political humor in the US.
Stephen Colbert was brought up as a Roman Catholic and is the youngest of eleven children. He joined the Second City comic improv team in Chicago after graduating from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, with a degree in theater in 1986. He met Paul Dinello and Amy Sedaris there, who would later work with him. Together, the three produced the offbeat sitcom Strangers with Candy (1999–2000) and the award-winning sketch show Exit 57 (1995–1996), both of which aired on the Comedy Central cable network.
Stephen Colbert worked on a number of different television projects before to joining Jon Stewart’s Daily Show in 1997. He worked as a writer and correspondent for the news parody show for eight years. With segments like “This Week in God,” where he examined religious themes in the news, and “Even Stevphen,” a hilarious mock-debate series starring Colbert and fellow journalist Steve Carell, he became a fan favorite.
Stephen Colbert started hosting The Colbert Report, his own spin-off, in 2005. In order to make fun of some cable news figures, particularly Bill O’Reilly, he developed the image of a conceited conservative pundit. He created the term “truthiness” in the first episode to describe an unwavering “truth” that came from intuition rather than evidence. (The 2005 Word of the Year was “truthiness,” according to the American Dialect Society.)
Truthfulness evolved became a central tenet of the program, where Stephen Colbert’s ridiculous opinions on cultural and political matters, as well as his exaggerated eccentricities (such as his extreme dislike of bears), were all given equal weight.
Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing (2008, 2010, 2013–14), Outstanding Variety Series (2013–14), and a Peabody Award (2008) were among the many honors The Colbert Report received.
When Colbert spoke as the keynote speaker at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in April 2006, he blurred the boundaries between political criticism and entertainment in a highly visible manner. The White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner is typically a lighthearted occasion that features mild jokes between the president and the press.
He mocked the mainstream media and President George W. Bush’s government with a harsh (or daring, depending on one’s political stance) performance that was significantly more intense than usual for this occasion. His role as a political tastemaker among many young liberals was solidified by the attention he received, which significantly increased his national profile.
Stephen Colbert also gained notoriety for instances in which his character interjected himself into “real world” situations. He frequently urged his loyal supporters, whom he referred to as the “Colbert Nation,” to cast write-in votes for him in a number of public internet surveys. He consequently won a number of naming contests, including one for a bridge in Budapest and another for a node on the International Space Station (both awards were later withdrawn because of public protests). In order to support the American speed-skating team at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the Colbert Nation assisted in raising money in 2009.
Colbert and Stewart organized the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear on October 30, 2010, at Washington, D.C.’s National Mall. The nationally televised event, which was a satirical reaction to conservative media celebrity Glenn Beck’s previous “Restoring Honor” demonstration, drew over 200,000 spectators. Colbert and Stewart’s program was hilarious, but it also made a sincere case for civility in political discourse.
Colbert made yet another audacious move into politics in 2011 when he founded the political action committee (PAC) “Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow.” It was dubbed a “super PAC” because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United v. FEC ruling, which allowed it to take unlimited contributions from people, businesses, or labor unions. Though not directly on behalf of certain candidates or parties, a super PAC is permitted to spend an unlimited amount of money on political initiatives. During the 2012 presidential election, Colbert utilized the money to create humorous, fictitious political advertisements.
Since a candidate’s business partner is legally permitted to operate their super PAC, he temporarily gave Stewart leadership of his super PAC in January 2012 so that he might “technically” investigate a short-term presidential bid. Colbert was commended by many political activists and media analysts for utilizing The Colbert Report to draw attention to the perplexing gaps in campaign finance legislation.
Colbert was selected to take over as host of CBS’s late-night talk show The Late Show in 2014, replacing David Letterman. The Colbert Report concluded in December 2014 in preparation of Letterman’s 2015 retirement announcement.
September 2015 saw the debut of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Despite the show’s early struggles with ratings, viewership skyrocketed in 2017 when Colbert found his rhythm. His harsh criticism of the first administration of U.S. President Donald Trump was widely credited for this rise. In the same year, Colbert presented the Emmy Awards as well.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert continued to be the most popular late-night talk show throughout the 2020s. Nevertheless, CBS declared in July 2025 that the program will be canceled following the 2025–2026 season and would not be replaced with a new one. Despite the network’s insistence that the decision was “entirely financial,” a number of pundits speculated that Colbert’s ongoing criticism of the second Trump administration might have had an impact.
A recent legal settlement between Trump and CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, was brutally condemned by Colbert. The arrangement was widely perceived as an attempt by Paramount to placate Trump and obtain federal approval for an impending firm sale.
In addition to acting, Colbert has given voices for a number of projects, including animated movies like Monsters vs. Aliens (2009), Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014), and Despicable Me 4 (2024), as well as the Saturday Night Live “TV Funhouse” cartoons. Together with Sedaris and Dinello, he co-wrote Wigfield (2003) and starred alongside them in Strangers with Candy (2005).
Colbert employed his Colbert Report pundit persona to remark on—and make fun of—religion, the media, higher education, dating, and other facets of American society in his 2007 book I Am America (And So Can You!). He published the picture book I Am a Pole (And So Can You!) in 2012, which was advertised as a children’s book but was actually intended for adults. America Again: Re-Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren’t came next.