Thursday’s taping of The Late Show has been canceled following host Stephen Colbert’s testing positive for COVID-19. On Thursday, Colbert broke the news telling that he “basically” is “feeling fine” & is “grateful to be vaxxed and boosted.” Colbert also thanked lovers for their “well wishes” and joked that the issue proves that he will “do anything to avoid interviewing Jason Bateman,” who planned to appear on the show on Thursday.
The official Twitter account for Colbert’s The Late Show first reported his bout with COVID-19 & wrote, “Stephen Colbert has tested positive for Covid 19. Tonight’s show is canceled.”
Continued Colbert: “Thank you for the good wishes. This proves that I will do anything to avoid interviewing Jason Bateman.”
Laura Linney, 58, and Ozark stars Bateman, 53, were set to be guests on a now-canceled episode.
Colbert continued in-person tapings of his show last June. Since March 2020, he had been filming remotely amid the pandemic.
Colbert has been honest about his experience hosting The Late Show during the pandemic and how his worries about the virus affected his time as an entertainer.
Colbert explained Variety in a 2021 interview:
“I am glad to have relaxed into that vulnerable feeling because it makes you less nervous about being public figure, let alone a public performer. You’re saying, ‘Well, this is what I am like, and I hope that is OK with you & to find out that was OK was another level of becoming myself, of which this entire show has been a journey.”
Colbert further revealed:
“Coming back to the live audience, let us say, ‘Oh, this is great!’ But I don’t want just to be satisfied that we do the old form of The Late Show. We’ve got to keep evolving. And I do not know what that is other than I know you always have to wear that idea on your nose in little music stand with a little sheet music that says ‘Evolve’ on it.”
As stated above, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will be airing reruns of earlier episodes until it returns on May 2nd.
