Stephen Colbert brings back his Colbert Report alter ego to pay tearful homage to Bill O'Reilly


On Wednesday's Late Show, Stephen Colbert did a little jig on the grave of Bill O'Reilly's Fox News career, but he also said he's "not going to sit here and publicly gloat" about the downfall of a TV personality whose microwave he once stole. In the second part of his monologue, he explained why. "Here's the thing, I owe a lot to Bill O'Reilly," he said. "I spent over nine years playing a character based largely on him — and then 12 months in therapy to de-bloviate myself. So tonight, we at The Late Show are proud to issue a statement from Bill O'Reilly's biggest fan, conservative pundit Stephen Colbert."
He cut to his Colbert Report alter ego, "live" from the cabin in the woods he shares with Jon Stewart. "Hello nation, and shame on you," that Colbert said. "You failed him. You failed Bill O'Reilly. You didn't deserve this great man." After railing against the decline of America, to where you can't even sexually harass anybody anymore, he invited O'Reilly to join him and Stewart in the woods. Then Late Show Colbert took over again. "In case you're a fan of sexual harassers who are on TV all the time, you still have Donald Trump," he said, moving on to the New England Patriots visiting the White House and Tuesday's special election in Georgia. Watch below. Peter Weber
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
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.
-
Shohei Ohtani is caught in a financial controversy — again
In the Spotlight The controversy concerns Ohtani and his agent, Nez Balelo
-
A descent into academic Hell, a ferocious feminist fable and the adult debut of a beloved children's author
The Week Recommends August books include R.F. Kuang's 'Katabasis,' Xenobe Purvis' 'The Hounding' and Louis Sachar's 'The Magician of Tiger Castle'
-
What is an upside-down car loan and how do you get out of it?
the explainer This happens when the outstanding balance on a car loan exceeds the vehicle's worth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages