When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.<\/i><\/p>\n Credit: Sonja Flemming\/CBS<\/p>\n The 77th Primetime Emmys were a huge night of television for shows like The Studio, The Pitt, and Adolescence, as well as some dark horse wins like Andor taking the trophy for Outstanding Writing<\/a>. One of the most emotional wins of the evening was saved for almost last, however, with Stephen Colbert\u2019s The Late Show winning Outstanding Talk Series. Winning the top category in his genre for the very first time might have been emotional under any circumstances, but the victory coming months after The Late Show was controversially cancelled<\/a> makes this a standout moment from the 2025 Emmy Awards live<\/a>.<\/p>\n Colbert was already getting a lot of hype at the Emmys before Bryan Cranston walked out on stage to announce the winner for Outstanding Talk Series, as he had presented an award earlier in the broadcast, with the audience of celebrities and creatives chanting \u201cStephen! Stephen! Stephen!\u201d I wasn\u2019t surprised to hear him cracking a joke about The Late Show\u2019s cancellation when he presented, but I wasn\u2019t prepared for how he and the room would react when the Late Show\u2019s win was announced.<\/p>\n The longtime host was visibly overjoyed, and ushered others from The Late Show team along with him as he took to the stage to accept the award. From the audience, Jimmy Kimmel, who had used his own nomination to support Colbert<\/a>, clearly was still rooting for the Late Show host, based on his expression. I felt better about my own teary reaction to Colbert’s jubilation when I spotted The White Lotus\u2019 Aimee Lou Wood with tears in her eyes as well. As for Colbert after he finally made it to the stage, he was nothing but classy after getting the trophy from Cranston.<\/p>\n Colbert said that he wanted to \u201cthank CBS for giving us the privilege to be part of the late night tradition,\u201d despite outcry against the network when The Late Show was cancelled. The host continued, saying of the late night tradition that he hopes it \u201ccontinues long after we\u2019re no longer doing this show.” He thanked his family, the rest of the hard workers at The Late Show, and the late Amy Cole, who was a longtime executive assistant before she passed away in 2024. He then went beyond Nate Bargatze\u2019s 45-second rule<\/a> on a more emotional note:<\/p>\n Ten years ago in September of 2015, Spike Jonze stopped by my office and said, \u2018Hey, what do you want this show to be about?\u2019 And I said, \u2018Spike, I don\u2019t know how you could do it, but I\u2019d kinda like to do a late night comedy show that was about love.\u2019 I don\u2019t know if I ever figured that out, but at a certain point, and you can guess what that point was, I realized that in some ways we were doing a late night comedy show about loss. And that\u2019s related to love because sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense that you might be losing it. Ten years later, in September of 2025, my friends, I have never loved my country more desperately. God bless America! Stay strong, be brave, and if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/div>\n