Stephen Colbert makes it clear that he cares deeply about his Late Show team while accepting Walter Bernstein Award

Dear Gossips,

A few weeks ago in this space, I posted about Stephen Colbert, after he went on the air to criticise CBS lawyers for misrepresenting the situation over his interview with James Talarico that subsequently aired on The Late Show’s YouTube channel instead of on the network. At the time, I noted that it wouldn’t be accurate to say that Colbert is moving like he has no f-cks to give, with the show ending in May, allegedly because it’s not making money but really because… well… you know.

The point of that post back in February was that Stephen gives all the f-cks, he cares deeply, not just about himself but about his team, the people who work on The Late Show and contribute every night in their own unique way. That much was obvious yesterday when he received the Walter Bernstein Award “for willingness to confront social injustice in the face of adversity”, presented to him by his longtime friend and former boss, Robert Smigel.

Stephen was appreciative, and took the time to reflect on the honour, sharing what it means to him to be acknowledged for his writing. And then honoured the artform of writing by spending most of his speech highlighting the talent of his writing staff – 20 of them who’d gathered on a Sunday afternoon in support of their host – reading the jokes they wrote that he, for one reason or another, had cut from the show. And then he named them, listing off their various attributes, encouraging the audience that “If you liked any of these ideas, please employ these lovely folks”. Because, of course, they will soon be unemployed, not because they’re not great at their jobs, not because they want to stop being great at their jobs, but because of cowardice.

I know the video below is long, so if you want to just skip to Stephen’s part, start at 14:30 and you’ll be moved near the end by his emotion, when he talks about one of the hardest things about hosing a late night show: not being in the writers’ room, where all the fun happens. He’s not lying. I’m always trying to get Duana to talk to me about the writers’ room like it’s a bedtime story. I love that Colbert is romanticising it. The writers’ room isn’t always romantic, but neither is a film set or a stage, two showbiz locations that have been, since show business was invented, idealised and glorified when what happens on both can only be made possible by the work of writers.