More than a dozen celebrities made surprise appearances on Stephen Colbert’s second-to-last “Late Show” episode Wednesday night, with two of them targeting President Donald Trump.
Robert De Niro, a vocal critic of Trump, appeared as part of the “Colbert Questionert,” where Colbert asks guests standard questions.
When asked, “What number were you thinking of?” De Niro quipped, “OK. Cause I thought it would’ve been two million point five, or two and a half million. That’s the number of Epstein files Trump still hasn’t released.”
Bruce Springsteen Closes with Protest Song
Bruce Springsteen, who frequently speaks out against the president, closed the show performing his new protest song, “Streets of Minneapolis.”
“I am here tonight in support for Stephen because you’re the first guy in America who’s lost his show because we’ve got a president who can’t take a joke,” the “Born in the U.S.A.” singer told the audience.
Springsteen also criticized Paramount, which some believe canceled Colbert’s show for political reasons rather than financial ones. “Larry and David Ellison feel they need to kiss his a– to get what they want,” Springsteen said. “Stephen, these are small-minded people … they got no idea what the freedoms of this beautiful country are supposed to be about.”
White House Response and Public Reactions
The White House responded on Thursday, with a spokesperson saying, “Stephen Colbert is a pathetic trainwreck with no talent and terrible ratings, which is exactly why CBS canceled his show and is booting him off the airwaves.”
Reactions on social media were divided along ideological lines. One YouTube user wrote, “This is an absolute mic drop right there for the Late Show, and god, it’s hard to believe that all of this will end tomorrow,” referring to Springsteen.
Another commented, “Mad respect to the Boss, a much better man than the one sitting in the oval office.” Regarding De Niro, one user wrote: “So thrilled that Robert DeNiro showed up, a living legend.”
On the other hand, some critics were harsh. One X user wrote: “All so embarrassing. Springsteen literally has an IQ of 80, at best.
Colbert hasn’t ever been funny, somehow forgetting his job was to be a comedian, not engage in weird, leftist, cringe-inducing partisan nonsense that most people don’t want anything to do with.
Should have been fired years ago.” Another X user called Springsteen a “washed up musician,” claiming Colbert lost his show because “nobody was watching, revenues were tanking, and he was simply un-funny.”
“Stephen Colbert is a pathetic trainwreck with no talent and terrible ratings, which is exactly why CBS canceled his show and is booting him off the airwaves.”
Trump’s Prior Remarks
In April, Trump had criticized Springsteen, calling him “Bad, and very boring,” and wrote that the singer “looks like a dried up prune who has suffered greatly from the work of a really bad plastic surgeon, has long had a horrible and incurable case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, sometimes referred to as TDS.”
He added, “MAGA SHOULD BOYCOTT HIS OVERPRICED CONCERTS, WHICH SUCK. SAVE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY.”
