Stephen Colbert found some dark humor Monday in Sunday night's ouster of his boss, former CBS chief Les Moonves, but not too much. The allegations of sexual misconduct against Moonves are "extremely disturbing, and I'm not surprised that that's it," he said on The Late Show. "Les Moonves is gone — for at least nine months, until he does a set at the Comedy Cellar."
Meanwhile, President Trump is "obsessed" with finding the official in his administration who wrote that op-ed in The New York Times last week, "but he is being counseled by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly to let it pass," Colbert said. "Oh, is he? Really? I bet he is. 'Yeah, Mr. President, just let it go. I mean, whoever wrote it probably didn't even see it as being a big deal. Anyway, let's just put on some Fox & Friends while I shred all examples of my handwriting.'" WikiLeaks has already cracked the mystery, determining that the writer is an "older conservative male," Colbert said, laughing. "Really, Wikisleuths, an older white male — in the Trump administration? Are you sure it it's not a socialist bisexual Latina in her early 20s?"
Colbert had a fun little riff off Kellyanne Conway's televised message for the op-ed author, and he noted that "Vice President — and man eagerly awaiting the Ides of March — Mike Pence" was willing to swear to anything that he's not the mole. Colbert spliced himself into Pence's Fox News interview and gave the VP a lie-detector test. He ended with some sobering thoughts on Bob Woodward's new book, Fear, and some less-sobering thoughts on Trump's threat to "write the real book!" "That's a bold statement, considering you didn't even write your own fake book," he said. Watch below. Peter Weber
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.
-
August 24 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday's political cartoons include Putin at Donald Trump's circus, gallons of whitewash, and a foldable cartoon
-
5 Post Office-approved cartoons about mail-in votingCartoons Artists take on reverse logic, Putin's election advice, and more
-
The battle of the weight-loss drugsTalking Point Can Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly regain their former stock market glory? A lot is riding on next year's pills
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
