Stephen Colbert delivers a surprisingly touching tribute to Justice Antonin Scalia

Stephen Colbert has a touching remembrance of Antonin Scalia

(Image credit: Late Show)

Justice Antonin Scalia was "universally acknowledged to be an intellectual giant," Stephen Colbert said on Monday's Late Show, and "whether or not you agreed with him, or made a lot of jokes about him, like I did, one thing you've got to admit is that he had a great sense of humor." Colbert said that he was "lucky enough to have one conversation with Antonin Scalia that explained his appeal to me." It happened after Colbert hosted the White House Correspondents' Dinner a decade ago, to stony faces in the front tables and on the stage.

After he'd finished mocking then-President George W. Bush in Colbert Report character in a room full of people who didn't watch his show, nobody spoke to him or made eye contact with him — except Scalia, whom Colbert had insulted in his speech, too. Scalia laughed it off and told him his material was great, even after Colbert repeated a rude gesture at him. "And I watched him go, and I thought, 'Don't make me love you, old man,'" Colbert said on Monday night, before saying he "will forever be grateful for that moment of human contact" and sending off Scalia with one final salute. Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.