Stephen Colbert ‘Wore People Out’ With ‘Prolonged Farewell’: ‘Best Thing’ to Do Now Is ‘Step Back’

One day after The Late Show took its final bow, Stephen Colbert was back on the air.

On Friday, May 22, the former late night talk show host, 62, made a surprise appearance on Michigan public access TV’s Only in Monroe, interviewing celebrity guests like Jack White and Jeff Daniels, and taking jabs at his ex-employer CBS.

“Stephen is intent on reinventing himself in new media now that his late night show is over,” an insider tells the National Enquirer. “But he needs to recognize that the endless tributes he staged for himself during his prolonged farewell run of episodes wore people out!”

Colbert received quite the star-studded send-off with Jon Stewart, Steven Spielberg, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd, Ryan Reynolds, Tim Meadows, Tig Notaro and Paul McCartney all stopping by New York City’s Ed Sullivan Theater to wish him farewell.

The decision to end The Late Show‘s 32-year run came as a surprise even to Colbert, he admitted in a 2025 interview with GQ.

“It’s shocking how suddenly Stephen’s cancellation seemed to happen last year,” the insider concedes. “He was truly taken off guard when that happened.”

However, “the best thing Stephen could do right now is step back, take a breath, and think seriously about what he wants the next ten years of his career to be like,” notes the insider.

As the Enquirer previously reported, a source says Colbert has not outlined a plan for what he’s going to do post-The Late Show.

He’ll need to, though.

“Nobody is going to show up and watch him continue to re-litigate his cancellation from network TV,” says the insider. “If he can’t find his authentic voice again, nobody is going to care and nobody is going to tune in.”