As CBS.com reported: “The audience booed when Colbert, ‘with a heavy heart, said it has been decreed that the character is kaput”.
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Fortunately, the host was able to gain some comfort from a surprise guest – the identical twin cousin of “Stephen Colbert”.
Stephen Colbert has been on top of his game during the last two convention weeks. “‘I feel the same way, but what can I do?”
Colbert joked, “The lawyers have spoken”. I can not reasonably argue that I own my own face and name.
Colbert said he found the claim “surprising, because I never considered that guy much of an intellectual”.
So exactly how are Stephen Colbert and his cousin identical?
From there, Colbert upped the ante even more, ending his show with a “new segment”, called “The Werd”, which focused on “the lesser of two evils”.
This is the kind of petty spat that makes politicians look honorable by comparison, especially when you consider both CBS and Viacom’s Comedy Central fall under the same ownership – Sumner Redstone’s National Amusements.
But Colbert previously told THR that he saw his old character as a “tool” to be used judiciously, indicating he didn’t want to overdo it with appearances from the popular Colbert Report host.
Last week, in honor of the Republican National Convention, we all got to see “Stephen Colbert” again.
Colbert has struggled in the ratings since taking over for David Letterman previous year, often trailing NBC’s Late Night Starring Jimmy Fallon and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!
“Did you ever think you’d hear the words “intellectual property” and “NBC” in the same sentence?” (Video here.) Meanwhile, for those interested in going deeper, the Hollywood Reporter delves into whether Viacom, Comedy Central’s parent company, can actually stop Colbert from playing Colbert.
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The real Colbert revealed on Wednesday’s The Late Show that Comedy Central’s legal team is banning his old character from appearing on CBS!
