Stephen Colbert Announces Star-Studded Final Week of The Late Show Featuring Bruce Springsteen

Stephen Colbert is concluding his tenure on the CBS late-night program The Late Show with a final series of tapings scheduled for the week of May 18, 2026. The concluding week features a lineup of high-profile guests, including a three-time Oscar winner and two Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees.

The final broadcast sequence begins on May 18, 2026, with an episode titled The Worst of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. CBS has specified that this particular episode is not a clip show!

On May 19, 2026, the program will host filmmaker Steven Spielberg and The Daily Show host Jon Stewart. The evening will also include a special musical performance featuring Colbert and David Byrne.

The penultimate episode on May 20, 2026, will see Colbert turn his Colbert Questionert segment on himself. The episode will feature various special guests throughout the night and a performance by Bruce Springsteen.

The series finale is set for Thursday, May 21, 2026. While CBS has not officially announced the guest list for the final episode, reports indicate the appearance of a legendary musician befitting the occasion.

The conclusion of the series follows a cancellation announcement made by CBS in July 2025. At the time, the network stated the move was purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night television.

Additional reporting indicates the cancellation occurred during the acquisition of Paramount by Skydance. The merger between Skydance and Paramount Global was scheduled to close one month after the show’s end was confirmed. Deadline reported that the cancellation followed an instance where Colbert referred to a CBS parent company settlement with Donald Trump as a big fat bribe.

In a formal statement regarding the end of the broadcast, CBS noted:

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will end its historic run in May 2026 at the end of the broadcast season. We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire The Late Show franchise at that time.

CBS

The final weeks of the program have been marked by appearances from several late-night peers and entertainment figures. On May 11, 2026, Colbert reunited with Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver to discuss the state of the late-night genre.

Other recent guests include Tom Hanks and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, the latter of whom appeared in character from her series Veep to deliver a roast-style farewell.

In a recent appearance, former Late Show host David Letterman joined Colbert on the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York. The two comedians threw pieces of furniture and a cake onto a CBS logo painted on the ground below.

I thought maybe tonight’s occasion would be a little sad, being the end of your run here, but this brings true joy to my heart. We are up here for the wanton destruction of CBS property.

David Letterman