The Late Show host Stephen Colbert has confirmed a massive interview for the May 5 episode.
Stephen Colbert will interview Barack Obama on one of his final episodes presenting The Late Show.
The 61-year-old late night talk show host is preparing for the end of the iconic programme on May 21, but before then he is set for another conversations with the former United States President.
Speaking on his show this week, Colbert said: “Folks before we get started, I have a quick but exciting announcement.
“Tuesday May 5 here on The Late Show in his first interview from the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, I will be sitting down with former President Barack Obama.”
The official Obama Foundation account commented: “Couch booked. Volume up. Ready to go.”
Colbert and Obama have spoken before, going back to the host’s Comedy Central days, and on The Late Show in 2016 and 2020.
CBS programme will end with the current season on May 21, but the TV star insisted he’s quite ready to “let go” of anything just yet.
Oprah Winfrey was a guest on his show on Tuesday (07.04.26) and asked if there was anything he wanted to “release” as the end approaches.
He said: “I still have a white-knuckle grip on all these people who I love, who I’ve worked with all these years, including those people over there.”
Colbert – who is writing new Lord of the Rings film Shadow of the Past – is still close to the band, camera crew, light and sound teams, and more behind the scenes.
Meanwhile, he and Oprah both agreed that the audience is such an important part of a talk show.
He explained: “The audience is very pure in their engagement of our conversation… The audience members are listening and reacting.”
The announcement came shortly after he criticised parent company Paramount’s $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump and during a time when the studio was waiting for approval for its merger with Skydance.
While CBS insisted the decision to axe the show was “purely financial” and not related to “other matters happening at Paramount”, many speculated that that wasn’t the case, though Colbert himself has refused to “engage in that speculation”.
Speaking to America’s GQ magazine, he admitted he has “feelings” about the end of The Late Show but doesn’t want to discuss them publicly because the programme won’t end until May 2026.
He added: “People can have their theories. I have my feelings about not doing the show anymore, but you’d have to show me why that’s a fruitful relationship for me to have with my network for the next nine months, for me to engage in that speculation.”
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