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Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Stephen Colbert's ‘Late Show' is canceled, but he won't go quietly into that goodnight
We seem to be in an era of endings. The end of ethical norms, of the rule of law, of science, of democracy, of Marc Maron's 'WTF' podcast, possibly the world and the just-announced end of 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,' when the host's contract runs out in 10 months — which may presage the end of late-night television, at least on CBS, which says it has no plans to replace him or keep the show. 'This is all just going away,' Colbert said in a statement taped Thursday. Coincidentally, or not, Paramount, which owns CBS, is seeking regulatory approval from the Trump Administration to sell itself to the Hollywood studio Skydance. (I'd never heard of it either.) An official statement, claiming that the 'Late Show' cancellation represents 'a purely financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night … not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount' (italics mine) is — however true it might be — just the sort of thing to make one say, 'Pull the other one.' 'Other matters' would seem to refer to the merger and to Paramount's recent payment of $16 million to settle a frivolous Trump lawsuit over the perfectly routine editing of a '60 Minutes' Kamala Harris interview that was somehow supposed to give Harris an unfair advantage in the 2024 election and to have caused her opponent 'mental anguish' — a payment Colbert characterized in a monologue just a few days ago, as a 'big fat bribe': 'As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I am offended. And I don't know if anything will ever repair my trust in this company. But just taking a stab at it, I'd say $16 million would help.' Though he responded to his studio audience's supportive boos saying, 'Yeah, I share your feelings,' he was only kind to the network: 'I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners,' Colbert said. 'I'm so grateful to the Tiffany network for giving me this chair and this beautiful theater to call home.' But there have been plenty of surrogates to draw connections, provide context and bite harder, especially in light of the departure of '60 Minutes' executive producer Bill Owens and CBS News president Wendy McMahon. 'Love you Stephen,' ABC host Jimmy Kimmel, posted on Instagram, 'adding 'F— you CBS and all your Sheldons.' (In January, ABC also settled a Trump suit for $16 million, over George Stephanopoulos calling Trump's sexual harassment conviction 'rape.') Of the remaining late night hosts, we may say that each is special in their own way. Colbert, 61dob: 5/13/1964, who has been at 'The Late Show' for 10 years, is the most mature, professorial and philosophical — gentle, a gentleman, and at times a mock-gentleman, addressing his audience as 'My fellow Americans,' or echoing Walter Winchell, 'Mr. and Mrs. America and All the Ships at Sea,' or as 'Ladies and Gentlemen.' He slaps himself in the face twice before every show to 'be in the moment … [to] only do this for the next hour.' Though he may still kick up his heels during a monologue, as an interviewer he is composed and thoughtful and curious — and funny, to be sure — to the degree each conversation demands. A committed (liberal) Catholic, he co-narrated the English-language audiobook of Pope Francis' 'Life: My Story Through History,' with Franciscan Father John Quigley, at the same time, he's a first-generation Dungeons & Dragons devotee, a lifelong reader of science fiction and a man of whom director Peter Jackson said, 'I have never met a bigger Tolkien geek in my life.' (Jackson cast him as 'Laketown spy' in 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.') He's a person who will quote Gandalf in a conversation on grief and loss with Anderson Cooper, or, on 'The Friendship Onion' podcast with Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd, a.k.a. Merry and Pippin, declare that after reading 'The Lord of the Rings' after college, 'I realized that Aragorn is the Apollonian model of manhood … The Hobbits are us. And we should love life as much as they do.' And he knows a thing or two about Ronnie James Dio. And grew up on Mad magazine, where young minds were taught to recognize the deceptions and hypocrisies of politics, business and media. Comedy Central's 'The Colbert Report,' which he hosted from 2005 through 2014, had a huge cultural effect beyond the reach of any late night host now, Colbert included. Because it ran on basic cable and not network television, and because Colbert hid within the character of a pompous conservative pundit, the show could take wild swings; to the extent it looked respectable, it was only a matter of irony. Colbert and Jon Stewart, on whose 'The Daily Show,' where Colbert had earlier worked, staged a 'Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear' on the National Mall in Washington that drew a crowd of more than 200,000; he ran for president twice and created a PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, '100 percent legal and at least 10 percent ethical.' During its run, he (or his writers) gave the world 'truthiness,' named 2006 Word of the Year by Merriam-Webster, which defined it as 'a truthful or seemingly truthful quality that is claimed for something not because of supporting facts or evidence but because of a feeling that it is true or a desire for it to be true.' Colbert was twice named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People. Ben & Jerry's created an ice cream flavor, Stephen Colbert's AmeriCone Dream, in his honor, and NASA dubbed a piece of exercise equipment for use on the International Space Station the 'Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill,' or COLBERT. Testifying in character in 2010, before a House Judiciary subcommittee on legal status for immigrant farm workers, he said, as if looking into 2025, 'This is America,' he said, 'I don't want my tomato picked by a Mexican. I want it picked by an American, then sliced by a Guatemalan and served by a Venezuelan in a spa where a Chilean gives me a Brazilian … My great grandfather did not travel over 4,000 miles of the Atlantic Ocean to see the country overrun by immigrants. He did it because he killed a man back in Ireland. That's the rumor, I don't know if that's true. I'd like to have that stricken from the record.' The signal segment of 'The Late Show' is the 'Colbert Questionert' in which the host poses 15 questions 'ergonomically designed to penetrate straight to the soul of one of my guests and reveal their true being to the world.' (It's 'a scientifically verified survey; I've asked several scientists and they assured me — yeah, it's a survey.') Designed to create comic and/or sincere responses, they range from 'What's the best sandwich?' (Will Ferrell: 'Salami and grapefruit on rye, with a light sheen of mayonnaise.') to 'Apples or oranges?' (Colbert considers apple the correct answer, because you can put peanut butter on it.) to 'The rest of your life in five words.' (Tom Hanks: 'A magnificent cavalcade of color.') Cate Blanchett took it lying on Colbert's desk, as if in therapy. 'What do you think happens when we die?' he asked. 'You turn into a soup,' she replied. 'A human soup.' But it's Colbert's extended interviews and discussions, from 'The Late Show' and elsewhere, posted online, that dig the deepest and reveal the most about him in the bargain: a much circulated conversation with Nick Cave from last year; a long talk with Anderson Cooper, after the death of his mother, both about grief and gratitude; an episode of 'The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J.,' from a couple of weeks ago. (Colbert describes himself as 'publicly Catholic,' not 'a public Catholic.') Such discussions perhaps point the way to a post-'Late Show' practice for Colbert, much as it became one for David Letterman, who passed the seat on to him. (He's only the second host since the show's premiere in 1993.) As to the field he'll be leaving next May, who can say? Taylor Tomlinson's 'After Midnight' game show, which followed 'The Late Show,' expired this week. Kimmel and Seth Meyers, who go as hard against Trump as does Colbert, and the milder Jimmy Fallon, seem for the moment safely fixed at their desks. Though new platforms and viewing habits have changed the way, and how much, it's consumed, late night television is by its temporal nature remains a special province, out at the edge of things, where edgy things may be said and tried. (Don't expect Colbert to go quietly into that goodnight.) Yet even as the No. 1 show in late night, 'The Late Show' reportedly loses money. There's something to that 'financial decision,' I'm sure; it's the 'purely' that smells. We'll see. 'I absolutely love that Colbert got fired,' Trump posted on his vanity social media site, going on to say that he 'hears' that 'Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert.' Trump and Colbert could not be farther apart as humans. The president sells fear; he uses it as a club. But the TV host is sanguine. 'You can't laugh and be afraid at the same time,' Colbert is fond of saying, sometimes adding, 'and the Devil cannot stand mockery.'
Elle
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Elle
Ayo Edebiri and Julia Roberts Face Off in Tense 'After The Hunt' Trailer
Luca Guadagnino is so back. The Oscar-nominated director's new film, After the Hunt, will officially be released this October. The film is written by first-time screenwriter Nora Garrett and stars Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, and Andrew Garfield. Here's everything we know about the forthcoming psychological drama. The film follows a college professor (Julia Roberts) who gets caught in the middle of a campus scandal after her student (Ayo Edebiri) accuses one of her colleagues (Andrew Garfield) of 'crossing the line.' Per IndieWire, on an episode of the podcast WTF with Marc Maron, Guadagnino shared that After The Hunt is one of his 'very rare' films that isn't about 'sexuality or love.' 'It's a very timely movie for where we are now,' he said, 'in terms of the society and the division in society and the extreme positions that we can have vis-a-vis an opinion in a way. It's about what happens in the milieu of academia between younger and older people and the idea of consent. I can tell you that it's very loaded. I can tell you that the movie is very provocative, but not in a stupid way, but I would say in a very articulate way.' He also added that this is Roberts's 'best performance' of her career. In another interview, Guadagnino also spoke about how much he enjoyed working with Edebiri. 'Ayo is a movie star in the real sense of bigness, and cinema, and excitement,' he told W. 'She has a commitment toward performance that you rarely find now. She absolutely commands your gaze. She's funny and she's extremely beautiful—and that is a very rare combination.' In addition to Roberts, Edebiri, and Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloë Sevigny round out the cast. In an interview with Deadline at this year's CinemaCon, Garfield revealed what it was like to work with Guadagnino for the first time. 'What was exciting and surprising about being with Luca on set was how loose he is, how relaxed he is, how spontaneous, in the moment, and totally focused [he is] when he needs to be,' he said. 'He seems to be allowing the day, the scene, and the moment to be found. And he's such a precise filmmaker, simultaneously.' Edebiri echoed those sentiments. She said that filming with Guadagnino was a 'mix of complete openness and specificity of vision.' She continued, 'As an actor that fosters you to come up with so many things and understandings of your character.' Yes! On July 16, Amazon MGM Studios released the official trailer. The film will be released in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on October 10 and will open nationwide on October 17. This story will be updated.
The Guardian
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
There's an art to staging a comeback. But the best artists know when it's time to take a pause
When the comedian Marc Maron announced he would soon end his pioneering interview podcast WTF – famed over nearly 16 years for hosting fellow comedians, wider celebrities and even Barack Obama (when he was more president than content creator) in his garage – he said something you don't often hear: 'It's OK for things to end.' In the time of the relentless scroll, culture often feels like it is drowning in cynical money grabs, nostalgia, franchises and 'IP rentierism'. Bands, TV shows and film concepts are either never-ending or ever-repeating. It was refreshing, then, to see something stop in such a poised manner rather than descend into irrelevance and indifference. Maron gave no major reason for quitting beyond that he and his producer were a bit burnt out and it was the right moment. 'I don't think we live in a time where people of my generation and slightly older know how to move on from anything or stop,' he said. Regardless of the manner of the ending, though, there is often an urge to return – be it out of financial need, creative desire, sheer boredom or some sense of unfinished business. Maron's guest when the departure was announced was the comedian John Mulaney, who responded: 'If you miss it and you want to come back … just come back,' he said. 'I sometimes feel bad for people that feel trapped by their finale.' No one is really keeping score of the comings and goings, though for a long time I think I was overly invested. I wanted to resist the plethora of reunions, particularly in music and TV, that have littered the last two decades. There has been a deadening sense of stagnation. More directly, the comebacks could often be dispiriting: a group of tired-faced older people vainly chasing their shadows to cash a cheque. But as Mulaney suggested, the comeback offers new possibilities. And even if it falls flat, intrigue abounds. I asked a few friends what they made of the Sex and the City reboot, And Just Like That, which, now in its third season, elicits unusual responses. They all say it is absolutely terrible, a shadow of its former self, and yet perplexingly compelling. They are watching every new episode. Many reunion audiences, meanwhile, just want to relive the magic – or experience it for the first time. It's hard to quibble with the sentiment. Even the most fervent Britpop idealist doesn't think Liam and Noel Gallagher revived Oasis because the brothers missed spending time together. As many pointed out, the starting pistol for the band's reunion might have been fired when Noel announced his divorce in January 2023. There is a lot of money to be made in their tour. Though, given the price gouging, a little bit too much money. But as the mass singalongs and pints-in-the-air hysteria at their first gigs in Cardiff last week showed, there is a huge amount of fun to be had in communing together, singing along to songs that, while 30-odd years old, remain timeless. My own resolve about comebacks softened sometime after LCD Soundsystem returned in 2016. James Murphy's group had initially disbanded in 2011 with a grand farewell concert at Madison Square Garden (the moment was preserved in a lavish documentary). For a band so self-reflexive and studied in its references, a 'hell freezes over' reunion tour was probably inevitable. But the speed at which this was happening – only five years! – seemed cynical, almost insulting. It looked like a blot on what they had previously achieved. Reluctantly I went to one of their 2017 reunion shows, and well, it was great. What I realised was that being overly precious about reunions and revivals was ultimately pointless: the whole rhythm of how they came, went and then came back again was a bit of an artificial construct anyway. If new shows give lots of fans a chance to see them play and provide pleasure, there's nothing wrong with that. LCD Soundsystem released a 'comeback' album in 2017. It's fine. There is a handful of strong songs on it, but their vital moment had passed. However, the idea of tarnishing an earlier legacy is somewhat arbitrary – one great piece of art doesn't necessarily get diminished because a later related piece of art isn't at the same level. I have no interest in watching a second of the Frasier revival that emerged in 2023, somehow including Nick Lyndhurst. It has now been cancelled, but regardless, it couldn't spoil any Channel 4 morning commune with the original series of Seattle's finest radio psychotherapist (itself, of course, a spin-off from Cheers). Often when a band returns, their new music sounds like some required throat-clearing to help justify further tours. I was surprised then to find I loved Pulp's recent comeback single, Spike Island. It was a track of wit and invention that stood comfortably alongside their best work. The ensuing album More stands up to repeated listens too. A well-timed revival can offer something new. And yet I remain drawn to the elegant and elongated pause. By all accounts Maron has no intention of retiring, with various projects on the boil beyond his podcast. But there is a certain grace in calmly walking away from the work that defined you. The once-behemoth alt-rock band REM amicably called it a day in 2011 after a series of albums with diminishing returns. It's striking how absent the band are from culture now, given how big they were just a few decades earlier. Amid constant rounds of 80s and 90s nostalgia, surely there have been some lucrative reunion tour offers. Yet aside from the occasional interview and impromptu performance, there has been nothing. For me, the group's frontman, Michael Stipe, has had one of the great post-band semi-retirements. If Instagram is a guide – and that platform is an entirely accurate representation of life – he seems to have spent the last decade doing assorted creative projects, some political activism, visiting friends' art shows around the world and generally just having a lovely old time (although he did delete all his posts in early 2025). Granted, there's been a more vexed attempt to make a solo album, long in gestation. But he's a model of the form – if you can afford it, of course. Perhaps the key isn't whether you return or not – it's knowing when to pause when you've run out of creative energy, space or time. The audience can decide on the rest. Larry Ryan is a freelance writer and editor
The Guardian
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
There's an art to staging a comeback. But the best artists know when it's time to take a pause
When the comedian Marc Maron announced he would soon end his pioneering interview podcast WTF – famed over nearly 16 years for hosting fellow comedians, wider celebrities and even Barack Obama (when he was more president than content creator) in his garage – he said something you don't often hear: 'It's OK for things to end.' In the time of the relentless scroll, culture often feels like it is drowning in cynical money grabs, nostalgia, franchises and 'IP rentierism'. Bands, TV shows and film concepts are either never-ending or ever-repeating. It was refreshing, then, to see something stop in such a poised manner rather than descend into irrelevance and indifference. Maron gave no major reason for quitting beyond that he and his producer were a bit burnt out and it was the right moment. 'I don't think we live in a time where people of my generation and slightly older know how to move on from anything or stop,' he said. Regardless of the manner of the ending, though, there is often an urge to return – be it out of financial need, creative desire, sheer boredom or some sense of unfinished business. Maron's guest when the departure was announced was the comedian John Mulaney, who responded: 'If you miss it and you want to come back … just come back,' he said. 'I sometimes feel bad for people that feel trapped by their finale.' No one is really keeping score of the comings and goings, though for a long time I think I was overly invested. I wanted to resist the plethora of reunions, particularly in music and TV, that have littered the last two decades. There has been a deadening sense of stagnation. More directly, the comebacks could often be dispiriting: a group of tired-faced older people vainly chasing their shadows to cash a cheque. But as Mulaney suggested, the comeback offers new possibilities. And even if it falls flat, intrigue abounds. I asked a few friends what they made of the Sex and the City reboot, And Just Like That, which, now in its third season, elicits unusual responses. They all say it is absolutely terrible, a shadow of its former self, and yet perplexingly compelling. They are watching every new episode. Many reunion audiences, meanwhile, just want to relive the magic – or experience it for the first time. It's hard to quibble with the sentiment. Even the most fervent Britpop idealist doesn't think Liam and Noel Gallagher revived Oasis because the brothers missed spending time together. As many pointed out, the starting pistol for the band's reunion might have been fired when Noel announced his divorce in January 2023. There is a lot of money to be made in their tour. Though, given the price gouging, a little bit too much money. But as the mass singalongs and pints-in-the-air hysteria at their first gigs in Cardiff last week showed, there is a huge amount of fun to be had in communing together, singing along to songs that, while 30-odd years old, remain timeless. My own resolve about comebacks softened sometime after LCD Soundsystem returned in 2016. James Murphy's group had initially disbanded in 2011 with a grand farewell concert at Madison Square Garden (the moment was preserved in a lavish documentary). For a band so self-reflexive and studied in its references, a 'hell freezes over' reunion tour was probably inevitable. But the speed at which this was happening – only five years! – seemed cynical, almost insulting. It looked like a blot on what they had previously achieved. Reluctantly I went to one of their 2017 reunion shows, and well, it was great. What I realised was that being overly precious about reunions and revivals was ultimately pointless: the whole rhythm of how they came, went and then came back again was a bit of an artificial construct anyway. If new shows give lots of fans a chance to see them play and provide pleasure, there's nothing wrong with that. LCD Soundsystem released a 'comeback' album in 2017. It's fine. There is a handful of strong songs on it, but their vital moment had passed. However, the idea of tarnishing an earlier legacy is somewhat arbitrary – one great piece of art doesn't necessarily get diminished because a later related piece of art isn't at the same level. I have no interest in watching a second of the Frasier revival that emerged in 2023, somehow including Nick Lyndhurst. It has now been cancelled, but regardless, it couldn't spoil any Channel 4 morning commune with the original series of Seattle's finest radio psychotherapist (itself, of course, a spin-off from Cheers). Often when a band returns, their new music sounds like some required throat-clearing to help justify further tours. I was surprised then to find I loved Pulp's recent comeback single, Spike Island. It was a track of wit and invention that stood comfortably alongside their best work. The ensuing album More stands up to repeated listens too. A well-timed revival can offer something new. And yet I remain drawn to the elegant and elongated pause. By all accounts Maron has no intention of retiring, with various projects on the boil beyond his podcast. But there is a certain grace in calmly walking away from the work that defined you. The once-behemoth alt-rock band REM amicably called it a day in 2011 after a series of albums with diminishing returns. It's striking how absent the band are from culture now, given how big they were just a few decades earlier. Amid constant rounds of 80s and 90s nostalgia, surely there have been some lucrative reunion tour offers. Yet aside from the occasional interview and impromptu performance, there has been nothing. For me, the group's frontman, Michael Stipe, has had one of the great post-band semi-retirements. If Instagram is a guide – and that platform is an entirely accurate representation of life – he seems to have spent the last decade doing assorted creative projects, some political activism, visiting friends' art shows around the world and generally just having a lovely old time (although he did delete all his posts in early 2025). Granted, there's been a more vexed attempt to make a solo album, long in gestation. But he's a model of the form – if you can afford it, of course. Perhaps the key isn't whether you return or not – it's knowing when to pause when you've run out of creative energy, space or time. The audience can decide on the rest. Larry Ryan is a freelance writer and editor
News18
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
Aryan Khan's ‘Casual Tareeka' Of Entering His Car Is Something You Can Try
Last Updated: Dressed in black track pants, a matching T-shirt and sneakers, Aryan Khan kept a low profile but grabbed the attention of the paps. Aryan Khan, son of superstar Shah Rukh Khan, is all set to make his directorial debut soon with the upcoming web series, The Ba***ds of Bollywood. Backed by SRK's production banner Red Chillies Entertainment, the show will stream on Netflix. As fans await a new update of the show, the Starkid was papped in Bandra, Mumbai, outside a dubbing studio. Several pictures and videos of Aryan have now surfaced on the internet. In one such video, he is seen stepping out of a building, along with his guard, and heading towards his car. One of the key highlights of his appearance was the way he entered his vehicle. As the clip progresses, we see Aryan crawling on the seat and getting into his ride. Dressed in black track pants, a matching T-shirt and sneakers, the 26-year-old kept a low profile but grabbed the attention of the paps. Recently, the Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos shared his review of the first two episodes of The Ba***ds of Bollywood and called it 'very funny.' During an interview on Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath's WTF podcast, he said, 'It (The Ba***ds of Bollywood) is quite entertaining. I've seen the first two episodes so far. It's really funny. I believe that both Indians and non-Indians are unaware of how Bollywood operates. So this is a super fun world. He (Aryan Khan) is a really good director." Earlier this year, SRK launched his son's series in his signature style: a humorous, theatrical and effortlessly entertaining trailer highlighting his strong chemistry with Aryan Khan. Sharing the announcement video on X, he wrote in the caption, 'Picture toh saalon se baaki hai, par show toh ab shuru hoga. Witness Aryan Khan's take on Bollywood… The BA***DS OF BOLLYWOOD, coming soon." Picture toh saalon se baki hai par show toh ab shuru hoga. Witness Aryan Khan's take on Bollywood… The Ba***ds of Bollywood, coming soon. #AryanKhan @bilals158 #ManavChauhan @RedChilliesEnt @NetflixIndia #TheBadsOfBollywood #TheBadsOfBollywoodOnNetflix #NextOnNetflixIndia — Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) February 3, 2025 The show reportedly features Lakshya and Sahher Bambba as leads, with Bobby Deol and Mona Singh in key roles. It also boasts star-studded cameos from prominent Bollywood personalities like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh and Karan Johar. The Ba***ds of Bollywood explores the chaotic and unpredictable world of the Indian film industry (Bollywood) through the lens of an outsider and his group of friends. However, an official streaming date of the show is yet to be announced. First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
