Late-night hosts show solidarity with Stephen Colbert
Jimmy Fallon said he was "just as shocked as everyone" and Seth Meyers called him a great host and comedian but an even better person.
John Oliver said he was excited to see what Colbert and his team would do during the final 10 months of the program.
Jimmy Kimmel directed an expletive at CBS, and Andy Cohen said it was a sad day for the network.
As for US President Donald Trump - a frequent target of Colbert's comedy - he said on Truth Social that "I absolutely love" that Colbert was "fired".
Some of the reaction from the late-night world:
JOHN OLIVER
* "I love Stephen, I love his staff. I love that show. It's incredibly sad. I am partly excited to see what they're going to do for the next 10 months. It's terrible, terrible news for the world of comedy. Late-night shows mean a lot to me, not just because I work in them, but because even growing up in England, I would watch Letterman's show, which of course was Stephen's show, and think about what a glamorous world that was. So to have got to be on Letterman's show and Stephen's show has been always one of the most fun things, so it's very, very, very sad news. I look forward to seeing what he's going to do next because that man will not stop." - the HBO Last Week Tonight host during an appearance in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
JIMMY FALLON
* "I'm just as shocked as everyone. Stephen is one of the sharpest, funniest hosts to ever do it. I really thought I'd ride this out with him for years to come. I'm sad that my family and friends will need a new show to watch every night at 11.30." - the NBC Tonight Show host, on Instagram
SETH MEYERS
* "For as great a comedian and host (as) he is, @stephenathome is an even better person. I'm going to miss having him on TV every night but I'm excited he can no longer use the excuse that he's 'too busy to hang out' with me." - the NBC Late Night host, on Instagram
JIMMY KIMMEL
"Love you Stephen." - the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host, on Instagram
ANDY COHEN
"It is a very sad day for CBS that they are getting out of the late-night race. I mean, they are turning off the lights after the news." - the Watch What Happens Live host, in an interview
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8 hours ago
- The Advertiser
The golden age Trump regrets ushering in
This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to There's been a lot of weeping in this household lately. Tears have flowed freely, paroxysms have been exhausting. It's not grief or sorrow causing the run on tissues, nor the cutting of onions. It's been laughter. Gales of it. Laughter so hard, it reddens the eyes and makes breathing difficult. And it's all down to Donald Trump and the new golden age he's ushered in. American comedy is back, baby, and with a vengeance. In its sights, the most thin-skinned, thick-headed president in memory. The late-night chat show hosts are taking him apart, especially since CBS, owned by Paramount Global, committed the ultimate act of self-harm by cancelling Stephen Colbert. Colbert, who will remain on air until next May, told his audience the gloves were now off. On live TV, he told Donald Trump, whose administration had to sign off on a planned merger with Skydance, to "Go f*** yourself." It was delivered with the exquisite comic timing for which Colbert is famous. Responding to a gloating Trump post - "I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings" - Colbert stared down the camera. "How dare you, sir? Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism? [Pause] Go f*** yourself." His one-time co-host Jon Stewart of The Daily Show didn't hold back either. In an expletive-laden rant, he ripped into the cowardice of American corporations and institutions cowing to Trump's bullying. But all that seems like ancient history. The late-night crew has been handed truckloads of material, all thanks to Trump's cack-handed and so far unsuccessful attempts to divert attention from the exhumed Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Newcomer to the rotating The Daily Show's lineup, Josh Johnson made a meal of the story that won't go away. He took aim at House of Reps Speaker Mike Johnson for dismissing the House early. "Do you understand that they cleared Congress out for the summer like they found a dookie in the pool?" No points for guessing what a "dookie" is. As for Trump accusing Barack Obama of treason: "The problem with this distraction is that it's so old, Jeffrey Epstein wouldn't date it." Johnson's right, of course. Trump's been pathologically obsessed with Obama for decades. Even the animated Millennial favourite South Park has joined the chorus of ridicule, infuriating the White House and its head honcho. The first episode of its 27th season featured a naked and clearly under-endowed Trump jumping into bed with Satan. The president's vision of a new golden age didn't include comedy and satire, which has stepped into to fill an expanding void of commentary abandoned by the once powerful newspapers like The Washington Post. Comics and cartoonists - Broelman and Pope, take a bow - speak more than truth to power, even if Jon Stewart insists the late-night comedians satirising the news only speak opinions to television cameras. They have a way of speaking it to idiocy and hypocrisy as well. We can expect an unconstrained Stephen Colbert to do that even more forcefully than he has been. We'll laugh, and the sleepless Donald Trump will rage and fume on Truth Social, providing the comedian with mountains of fresh material to work with. HAVE YOUR SAY: How important is humour in politics? Who are your favourite comedians, cartoonists and satirists? Have your opinions on an issue ever been shaped by cartoons or comedy sketches? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Rural communities will have fewer banking services as Bendigo Bank moves to wind down its agency model and step up e-banking across regional Australia. - Australia and the United Kingdom have reaffirmed their commitment to AUKUS for the next half-century as US devotion to the trilateral security pact wavers. - Workers could eventually be $14,000 a year better off if an upcoming roundtable is successful, Australia's productivity tsar says, as competing interests draw battle lines over the summit's priorities. THEY SAID IT: "People say satire is dead. It's not dead; it's alive and living in the White House." - Robin Williams YOU SAID IT: Garry is mystified by a growing reluctance, especially among young Australians, to cook their own food. "We still cook 90 per cent of the time," writes Lee. "However, when I find something easy that we like, I print off the recipe and put it in a folder so I can access it again easily. I have raised five boys (all millennials, three with partners). They do most of the cooking in their families. I started teaching them to cook meals when they turned 10, and by 12, they were required to cook a meal one night per week. And it had to have veggies. This strategy worked a treat." Maria writes: "The 10 years or so between our ages must have created equal opportunity classes. In my day, girls were taught Home Ec, and boys did Woodwork! But as for me, it still didn't stir in me a love of cooking - in fact, you'll find my husband in the kitchen more often! And he learned from his mum, not at school." "I've worked to nine to 10-hour days most of my life, so some days I really don't feel like cooking a meal when I get home, but I also try to eat healthily," writes Stephanie. "Many years ago, I started making big batches of pre-cooked meals based around a bolognese sauce. It costs around $3 a serve and is ready to eat in less than 10 minutes." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to There's been a lot of weeping in this household lately. Tears have flowed freely, paroxysms have been exhausting. It's not grief or sorrow causing the run on tissues, nor the cutting of onions. It's been laughter. Gales of it. Laughter so hard, it reddens the eyes and makes breathing difficult. And it's all down to Donald Trump and the new golden age he's ushered in. American comedy is back, baby, and with a vengeance. In its sights, the most thin-skinned, thick-headed president in memory. The late-night chat show hosts are taking him apart, especially since CBS, owned by Paramount Global, committed the ultimate act of self-harm by cancelling Stephen Colbert. Colbert, who will remain on air until next May, told his audience the gloves were now off. On live TV, he told Donald Trump, whose administration had to sign off on a planned merger with Skydance, to "Go f*** yourself." It was delivered with the exquisite comic timing for which Colbert is famous. Responding to a gloating Trump post - "I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings" - Colbert stared down the camera. "How dare you, sir? Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism? [Pause] Go f*** yourself." His one-time co-host Jon Stewart of The Daily Show didn't hold back either. In an expletive-laden rant, he ripped into the cowardice of American corporations and institutions cowing to Trump's bullying. But all that seems like ancient history. The late-night crew has been handed truckloads of material, all thanks to Trump's cack-handed and so far unsuccessful attempts to divert attention from the exhumed Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Newcomer to the rotating The Daily Show's lineup, Josh Johnson made a meal of the story that won't go away. He took aim at House of Reps Speaker Mike Johnson for dismissing the House early. "Do you understand that they cleared Congress out for the summer like they found a dookie in the pool?" No points for guessing what a "dookie" is. As for Trump accusing Barack Obama of treason: "The problem with this distraction is that it's so old, Jeffrey Epstein wouldn't date it." Johnson's right, of course. Trump's been pathologically obsessed with Obama for decades. Even the animated Millennial favourite South Park has joined the chorus of ridicule, infuriating the White House and its head honcho. The first episode of its 27th season featured a naked and clearly under-endowed Trump jumping into bed with Satan. The president's vision of a new golden age didn't include comedy and satire, which has stepped into to fill an expanding void of commentary abandoned by the once powerful newspapers like The Washington Post. Comics and cartoonists - Broelman and Pope, take a bow - speak more than truth to power, even if Jon Stewart insists the late-night comedians satirising the news only speak opinions to television cameras. They have a way of speaking it to idiocy and hypocrisy as well. We can expect an unconstrained Stephen Colbert to do that even more forcefully than he has been. We'll laugh, and the sleepless Donald Trump will rage and fume on Truth Social, providing the comedian with mountains of fresh material to work with. HAVE YOUR SAY: How important is humour in politics? Who are your favourite comedians, cartoonists and satirists? Have your opinions on an issue ever been shaped by cartoons or comedy sketches? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Rural communities will have fewer banking services as Bendigo Bank moves to wind down its agency model and step up e-banking across regional Australia. - Australia and the United Kingdom have reaffirmed their commitment to AUKUS for the next half-century as US devotion to the trilateral security pact wavers. - Workers could eventually be $14,000 a year better off if an upcoming roundtable is successful, Australia's productivity tsar says, as competing interests draw battle lines over the summit's priorities. THEY SAID IT: "People say satire is dead. It's not dead; it's alive and living in the White House." - Robin Williams YOU SAID IT: Garry is mystified by a growing reluctance, especially among young Australians, to cook their own food. "We still cook 90 per cent of the time," writes Lee. "However, when I find something easy that we like, I print off the recipe and put it in a folder so I can access it again easily. I have raised five boys (all millennials, three with partners). They do most of the cooking in their families. I started teaching them to cook meals when they turned 10, and by 12, they were required to cook a meal one night per week. And it had to have veggies. This strategy worked a treat." Maria writes: "The 10 years or so between our ages must have created equal opportunity classes. In my day, girls were taught Home Ec, and boys did Woodwork! But as for me, it still didn't stir in me a love of cooking - in fact, you'll find my husband in the kitchen more often! And he learned from his mum, not at school." "I've worked to nine to 10-hour days most of my life, so some days I really don't feel like cooking a meal when I get home, but I also try to eat healthily," writes Stephanie. "Many years ago, I started making big batches of pre-cooked meals based around a bolognese sauce. It costs around $3 a serve and is ready to eat in less than 10 minutes." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to There's been a lot of weeping in this household lately. Tears have flowed freely, paroxysms have been exhausting. It's not grief or sorrow causing the run on tissues, nor the cutting of onions. It's been laughter. Gales of it. Laughter so hard, it reddens the eyes and makes breathing difficult. And it's all down to Donald Trump and the new golden age he's ushered in. American comedy is back, baby, and with a vengeance. In its sights, the most thin-skinned, thick-headed president in memory. The late-night chat show hosts are taking him apart, especially since CBS, owned by Paramount Global, committed the ultimate act of self-harm by cancelling Stephen Colbert. Colbert, who will remain on air until next May, told his audience the gloves were now off. On live TV, he told Donald Trump, whose administration had to sign off on a planned merger with Skydance, to "Go f*** yourself." It was delivered with the exquisite comic timing for which Colbert is famous. Responding to a gloating Trump post - "I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings" - Colbert stared down the camera. "How dare you, sir? Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism? [Pause] Go f*** yourself." His one-time co-host Jon Stewart of The Daily Show didn't hold back either. In an expletive-laden rant, he ripped into the cowardice of American corporations and institutions cowing to Trump's bullying. But all that seems like ancient history. The late-night crew has been handed truckloads of material, all thanks to Trump's cack-handed and so far unsuccessful attempts to divert attention from the exhumed Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Newcomer to the rotating The Daily Show's lineup, Josh Johnson made a meal of the story that won't go away. He took aim at House of Reps Speaker Mike Johnson for dismissing the House early. "Do you understand that they cleared Congress out for the summer like they found a dookie in the pool?" No points for guessing what a "dookie" is. As for Trump accusing Barack Obama of treason: "The problem with this distraction is that it's so old, Jeffrey Epstein wouldn't date it." Johnson's right, of course. Trump's been pathologically obsessed with Obama for decades. Even the animated Millennial favourite South Park has joined the chorus of ridicule, infuriating the White House and its head honcho. The first episode of its 27th season featured a naked and clearly under-endowed Trump jumping into bed with Satan. The president's vision of a new golden age didn't include comedy and satire, which has stepped into to fill an expanding void of commentary abandoned by the once powerful newspapers like The Washington Post. Comics and cartoonists - Broelman and Pope, take a bow - speak more than truth to power, even if Jon Stewart insists the late-night comedians satirising the news only speak opinions to television cameras. They have a way of speaking it to idiocy and hypocrisy as well. We can expect an unconstrained Stephen Colbert to do that even more forcefully than he has been. We'll laugh, and the sleepless Donald Trump will rage and fume on Truth Social, providing the comedian with mountains of fresh material to work with. HAVE YOUR SAY: How important is humour in politics? Who are your favourite comedians, cartoonists and satirists? Have your opinions on an issue ever been shaped by cartoons or comedy sketches? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Rural communities will have fewer banking services as Bendigo Bank moves to wind down its agency model and step up e-banking across regional Australia. - Australia and the United Kingdom have reaffirmed their commitment to AUKUS for the next half-century as US devotion to the trilateral security pact wavers. - Workers could eventually be $14,000 a year better off if an upcoming roundtable is successful, Australia's productivity tsar says, as competing interests draw battle lines over the summit's priorities. THEY SAID IT: "People say satire is dead. It's not dead; it's alive and living in the White House." - Robin Williams YOU SAID IT: Garry is mystified by a growing reluctance, especially among young Australians, to cook their own food. "We still cook 90 per cent of the time," writes Lee. "However, when I find something easy that we like, I print off the recipe and put it in a folder so I can access it again easily. I have raised five boys (all millennials, three with partners). They do most of the cooking in their families. I started teaching them to cook meals when they turned 10, and by 12, they were required to cook a meal one night per week. And it had to have veggies. This strategy worked a treat." Maria writes: "The 10 years or so between our ages must have created equal opportunity classes. In my day, girls were taught Home Ec, and boys did Woodwork! But as for me, it still didn't stir in me a love of cooking - in fact, you'll find my husband in the kitchen more often! And he learned from his mum, not at school." "I've worked to nine to 10-hour days most of my life, so some days I really don't feel like cooking a meal when I get home, but I also try to eat healthily," writes Stephanie. "Many years ago, I started making big batches of pre-cooked meals based around a bolognese sauce. It costs around $3 a serve and is ready to eat in less than 10 minutes." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to There's been a lot of weeping in this household lately. Tears have flowed freely, paroxysms have been exhausting. It's not grief or sorrow causing the run on tissues, nor the cutting of onions. It's been laughter. Gales of it. Laughter so hard, it reddens the eyes and makes breathing difficult. And it's all down to Donald Trump and the new golden age he's ushered in. American comedy is back, baby, and with a vengeance. In its sights, the most thin-skinned, thick-headed president in memory. The late-night chat show hosts are taking him apart, especially since CBS, owned by Paramount Global, committed the ultimate act of self-harm by cancelling Stephen Colbert. Colbert, who will remain on air until next May, told his audience the gloves were now off. On live TV, he told Donald Trump, whose administration had to sign off on a planned merger with Skydance, to "Go f*** yourself." It was delivered with the exquisite comic timing for which Colbert is famous. Responding to a gloating Trump post - "I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings" - Colbert stared down the camera. "How dare you, sir? Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism? [Pause] Go f*** yourself." His one-time co-host Jon Stewart of The Daily Show didn't hold back either. In an expletive-laden rant, he ripped into the cowardice of American corporations and institutions cowing to Trump's bullying. But all that seems like ancient history. The late-night crew has been handed truckloads of material, all thanks to Trump's cack-handed and so far unsuccessful attempts to divert attention from the exhumed Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Newcomer to the rotating The Daily Show's lineup, Josh Johnson made a meal of the story that won't go away. He took aim at House of Reps Speaker Mike Johnson for dismissing the House early. "Do you understand that they cleared Congress out for the summer like they found a dookie in the pool?" No points for guessing what a "dookie" is. As for Trump accusing Barack Obama of treason: "The problem with this distraction is that it's so old, Jeffrey Epstein wouldn't date it." Johnson's right, of course. Trump's been pathologically obsessed with Obama for decades. Even the animated Millennial favourite South Park has joined the chorus of ridicule, infuriating the White House and its head honcho. The first episode of its 27th season featured a naked and clearly under-endowed Trump jumping into bed with Satan. The president's vision of a new golden age didn't include comedy and satire, which has stepped into to fill an expanding void of commentary abandoned by the once powerful newspapers like The Washington Post. Comics and cartoonists - Broelman and Pope, take a bow - speak more than truth to power, even if Jon Stewart insists the late-night comedians satirising the news only speak opinions to television cameras. They have a way of speaking it to idiocy and hypocrisy as well. We can expect an unconstrained Stephen Colbert to do that even more forcefully than he has been. We'll laugh, and the sleepless Donald Trump will rage and fume on Truth Social, providing the comedian with mountains of fresh material to work with. HAVE YOUR SAY: How important is humour in politics? Who are your favourite comedians, cartoonists and satirists? Have your opinions on an issue ever been shaped by cartoons or comedy sketches? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Rural communities will have fewer banking services as Bendigo Bank moves to wind down its agency model and step up e-banking across regional Australia. - Australia and the United Kingdom have reaffirmed their commitment to AUKUS for the next half-century as US devotion to the trilateral security pact wavers. - Workers could eventually be $14,000 a year better off if an upcoming roundtable is successful, Australia's productivity tsar says, as competing interests draw battle lines over the summit's priorities. THEY SAID IT: "People say satire is dead. It's not dead; it's alive and living in the White House." - Robin Williams YOU SAID IT: Garry is mystified by a growing reluctance, especially among young Australians, to cook their own food. "We still cook 90 per cent of the time," writes Lee. "However, when I find something easy that we like, I print off the recipe and put it in a folder so I can access it again easily. I have raised five boys (all millennials, three with partners). They do most of the cooking in their families. I started teaching them to cook meals when they turned 10, and by 12, they were required to cook a meal one night per week. And it had to have veggies. This strategy worked a treat." Maria writes: "The 10 years or so between our ages must have created equal opportunity classes. In my day, girls were taught Home Ec, and boys did Woodwork! But as for me, it still didn't stir in me a love of cooking - in fact, you'll find my husband in the kitchen more often! And he learned from his mum, not at school." "I've worked to nine to 10-hour days most of my life, so some days I really don't feel like cooking a meal when I get home, but I also try to eat healthily," writes Stephanie. "Many years ago, I started making big batches of pre-cooked meals based around a bolognese sauce. It costs around $3 a serve and is ready to eat in less than 10 minutes."
Perth Now
9 hours ago
- Perth Now
Music star Billy Joel: Love is not concrete
Billy Joel was "devastated" by his split from Christie Brinkley. The 76-year-old musician was married to the model between 1985 and 1994, and he loved the first few years of their romance. He said in his HBO documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes: "Here I am dating this beautiful supermodel and ... me? I'm from Hicksville. What am I doing with her? What's she doing with me? But that was a very productive time for me. I wrote a lot of songs for her. She was a muse. "It was like being a teenager all over again. Experiencing those same emotions that I had when I was first discovering romance and love." Bill remembers the first few years of their romance being "so much fun". However, Billy admits that his music career and the stresses of fame took a toll on their relationship. He said: "I was in a relationship with someone who I cared deeply about. But I was not able to be at home. I was not able to be with my family. It was a very sad time for me. "I realised love is not concrete. You feel like it is, but there are things eating away at it. And in the end, it all catches up. It's hard. I was so devastated." Meanwhile, Billy has admitted to being given an ultimatum by Katie Lee, his then-wife, before he entered rehab in 2005. The musician checked into the Betty Ford Center for the treatment of alcohol abuse, after Katie instructed him to either seek help or end their relationship. He said: "With the rehab, you don't go for somebody else. You have to go for yourself. You have to want to do it. I didn't want to do it." Katie - who was married to Billy between 2004 and 2009 - noted that the music star struggled with addiction after taking a break from the spotlight. She explained: "I felt like he needed to be creating, he needed to be making music, performing, to turn down that anxiety of not having an artistic outlet. And there were struggles with addiction. It was really hard to navigate that, because I had no experience with it."
Perth Now
17 hours ago
- Perth Now
Billy Joel's wife was 'unimpressed' by his musical talents
Billy Joel's wife was "very unimpressed with the whole Billy Joel thing" when they first met. The 76-year-old star tried to woo Alexis, 43, with his musical talents during the early days of their romance, but she was completely unimpressed by his efforts. In the new HBO documentary series Billy Joel: And So It Goes, he explains: "I remember the first time I met Alexis, we went to my house, and I wanted to play the piano for her. It's a form of communication for me." Billy assumed that Alexis would be wowed by his award-winning talents. However, she was unmoved when he played the piano for her. Billy - who married Alexis in 2015 - said: "I'm playing that and she's completely unimpressed with it, totally. She couldn't care less what I'm playing and I'm thinking, 'Oh OK, this isn't working.' "She was very unimpressed with the whole Billy Joel thing, which impressed me. Because I thought, 'OK, maybe she's just here because she likes me, not the Billy Joel guy.'" The music star - who has daughters Della, nine, and Remy, seven, with Alexis - made a conscious effort to develop their relationship away from the spotlight. He explained: "We had a couple years together before we had kids and he had completely stopped doing shows. We travelled everywhere. We did a motorcycle trip from Maine down to Long Island, we were on boats 24/7. We were in Europe. We had so much fun." Meanwhile, Billy recently admitted that he was hesitant about committing to his HBO documentary. The music icon revealed that he was reluctant to reflect on some of the "stupid stuff" he's done in the past. He told People: "I've resisted this kind of thing for so long. I'm sick of talking about myself. Some of the stupid stuff I did, that's painful to talk about. (But) they asked me for some thematic guidance. I said, 'Just tell the truth.'" Billy initially just wanted to get the documentary "over with" because he doesn't enjoy talking about himself. The Uptown Girl hitmaker said: "My goal was to get it over with. "When I do interviews, people just ask you about yourself and you get a little self-conscious about it eventually. It's almost embarrassing. "When you're talking about your personal life detached from the material ... I suppose there's a little bit of wariness involved."
