Stephen Colbert Reveals Final ‘Late Show’ Date

The Late Show is about to be the late Late Show. (Not to be confused with The Late Late Show, which concluded in April 2023.)

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is set to end — for good — on May 21, 2026, Colbert revealed during a Monday taping of Late Night with Seth Meyers. (The episode will air tonight.) Meyers’ program airs on NBC in the hour following Colbert’s and, on his own network, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

After 33 years on CBS airwaves in the 11:30 p.m. time slot, the show started by David Letterman is hanging up its hat. (It hung up its Worldwide Pants — Letterman’s production company — when Letterman left the seat in 2015.)

Colbert first announced the news on his own program back in July 2025. His studio audience didn’t take it well — neither did Colbert.

“Yeah, I share your feelings,” he said at the time. “This is all just going away.