Fallon, Stewart, Oliver, Meyers in Colplay Kiss-Cam Spoof

Published

2 months ago

July 22, 2025

Stephen Colbert got an assist from some of his late-night rivals and other celebs for a send-up of the viral Coldplay kiss-cam video following CBS’s sudden decision to axe “The Late Show.”

Colbert set up the bit this way: “Some people see this show going away as a sign of something truly dire… We here at ‘The Late Show’ never saw our job as changing anything other than how you felt at the end of the day… Or rather, changing how you felt the next morning, when you watched on your phone, which is why broadcast TV is dying — you’re part of the problem, look in the mirror.”

“Point is, I don’t want this show to be associated with making you sad or anxious,” Colbert continued. “So I thought: music, OK? That makes people happy, right? So instead of me talking, here with a song to cheer you up are two musical greats” — whereupon he introduced “Weird Al” Yankovic and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Yankovic and Miranda launched into a rendition of Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida,” and Miranda immediately directed the camera operators to get shots of the audience, meant to evoke the social-media viral moment that the CEO and HR chief of tech start-up Astronomer were caught cuddling on the jumbotron at a Coldplay concert.

The “couples” spotted by the “Late Show” audience cam were: Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers of NBC; CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Bravo’s Andy Cohen (who have hosted a New Year’s Eve countdown show on CNN the past few years); Adam Sandler and Christopher McDonald (“Hacks”); and John Oliver of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” and Jon Stewart of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.”

Colbert then interrupted Yankovic and Miranda. “I just got this note from corporate,” he told them. “Your song has been canceled. It says here, ‘This is a purely financial decision,” with Colbert saying that since they began singing the song “the network has lost, and I don’t know how this is possible, $40 million to $50 million.” That’s a joke about the reported annual losses of “The Late Show” that led CBS to pull the plug on the late-night mainstay.

In his opening monologue on “The Late Show” Monday, Colbert hit back at President Trump’s gleeful comment last week that “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired” — with the host telling the president, “Go fuck yourself” (with the f-word censored).

Fallon, Meyers and Oliver have each previously expressed shock and dismay over CBS’s decision to kill “The Late Show.” Meanwhile, L.A.-based Jimmy Kimmel of ABC wrote “Love you Stephen” and “Fuck you and all your Sheldons CBS” in an Instagram post last week.

Stewart, on Monday’s episode of “The Daily Show,” was also in a profanity-laced frame of mind, but his invective was mainly aimed at CBS and parent company Paramount (and other media companies who think “bending the knee to Trump” will save them). After introducing a gospel choir, Stewart sang that “if you’re afraid and you protect your bottom line, I got but one thing to say! Go fuck yourself!”

Many critics have said CBS’s cancellation of “The Late Show” appears politically motived. The announcement came two weeks after Paramount Global, CBS’s parent, disclosed a $16 million payment to Trump to settle his lawsuit alleging “60 Minutes” had deceptively edited an interview with Kamala Harris — and three days after Colbert blasted the settlement as “a big fat bribe” to try to win Trump administration approval for Paramount’s merger with Skydance Media. The WGA has called for the New York State attorney general to investigate “The Late Show’s” cancellation, saying it had “significant concerns” that it was “a bribe” to “curry favor with the Trump Administration as the company looks for merger approval.”

CBS has insisted the decision to end “The Late Show,” which will end its 11-season run in May 2026, was a “purely” financial one. The network is not planning to relaunch the late-night show with another host (and Colbert joked that the Ed Sullivan Theater would be converted to a self-storage facility). CBS also has said that Skydance executives played no part in the move to kill “The Late Show.”

Source link

Up Next

Stephen Colbert’s Famous Friends Appear on Late Show After Cancellation

Don't Miss

What we know about the deadly crash into a Dhaka school

Todd Spangler

Click to comment

Alabama passes latest test, throttles Wisconsin as Ty Simpson comes up big

Published

3 hours ago

September 13, 2025

Jay Busbee

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — If you didn’t know the whole story while watching Alabama’s 38-14 decimation of Wisconsin on Saturday, you’d think the Tide hasn’t missed a beat in its transition out of the Nick Saban era. Quarterback Ty Simpson looked as comfortable in the pocket as he would on a front-porch swing, effortlessly targeting Alabama receivers.

But this is Alabama, where excellence is table stakes. A 24-point win when you’re favored by 20 coming in is simply expected, nothing more. Alabama fulfilled the second half of its home-and-home with Wisconsin following last year’s 42-10 thrashing, and the theatrics involved in this victory might — might — cool Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer’s seat just a touch.

Saturday served as a showcase for Alabama’s best self, an offensive explosion and defensive shutdown that might — again, might — mark the Florida State game as an aberration rather than a harbinger of the Tide’s future.

“Everything we do has purpose, and so moving with purpose,” DeBoer said after the game. “The guys have an energy right now that’s becoming contagious. They see and are reaping the rewards of it. They see what we’re capable of. They know we’re still so far from being where we need to be, but we’ve taken a couple steps here the last two weeks.”

Simpson was simply spectacular, carving up the Badgers for 382 yards and four touchdowns. When he has room to operate, Simpson can throw a key into a keyhole, and his line gave him all the time he needed to find Alabama’s receivers, all afternoon:

Ryan Williams, the wunderkind of 2024 who’s now an aged 18 years old, returned from a one-game concussion layoff to break off a massive touchdown out of some backfield trickeration on the first play of the second half:

Williams then pulled some sideline magic reminiscent of his TD score against Georgia last year, juking Wisconsin defenders into the shadow realm and running 41 yards for another touchdown.

“Some of those deep sideline throws, those aren’t the easiest,” DeBoer said. “They worked extremely hard on those. We were very intentional on making sure the timing of those routes were good, all week long in practice, and they went out and executed.”

Williams led all receivers with 165 yards on five receptions and two touchdowns. For Alabama, Germie Bernard added one touchdown on the ground and another through the air, and Isaiah Horton also caught a touchdown among his five receptions.

On the other side of the ball, the Alabama defense smothered Wisconsin, holding the Badgers to 92 net yards rushing and 117 yards in the air. Alabama safety Bray Hubbard snuffed out two drives by himself, snaring two touchdowns that virtually hit him in the numbers:

Wisconsin’s only touchdown through the first three quarters came on an Alabama special-teams breakdown, as the Badgers’ Vinny Anthony II ran back a kickoff to cut the score to 28-7. For the Badgers, this is yet another frustrating afternoon in the disappointing Luke Fickell era. Wisconsin fell from seven wins in Fickell’s first full season to five last year, and the Badgers (2-1) still have Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon, Indiana and Illinois on their schedule.

For Alabama, this game represented a chance to further distance themselves from the season-opening debacle in Tallahassee. “[After] our first week [the upset loss to Florida State], we kind of had to self-reflect, and we’re like, ‘Hey, what are we gonna do now,'” Simpson said. “We’ve been really, really intentional these last couple weeks of practice. And now we’ve just got to keep it going, right? We’ve got a tough couple games, a stretch coming up. And we’ve got to be more intentional than we ever have been.”

[Get more Crimson Tide football news: Alabama team feed]

Alabama did let off the gas in the fourth quarter, with drops and penalties putting a slight dent on the finish of an otherwise perfect game. “I’d love to see us do a much better job of the fourth quarter, just finishing,” DeBoer said, citing drops like the would-be TD that Williams couldn’t secure in the end zone. “We’ve just got to take care of those things, because those are things that can kill you in a tight game.”

Still, the strong across-the-board performance will surely help DeBoer’s standing in the eyes of ever-critical Tide fans. DeBoer’s original sin, one that will shadow him unless and until he gets a statue of his own outside the stadium, is the fact that he isn’t Bear Bryant or Saban. Where Bryant wore a fedora on the sidelines, DeBoer sports a crimson baseball cap. Where Saban frothed, stormed and unleashed torrents of obscenities, DeBoer tends to stand stoically, his arms folded across his black Alabama hoodie.

Both those elements of DeBoer’s persona — his wardrobe and his demeanor — have drawn the rage of longtime Alabama fans. But even the crustiest old Bryant disciple had to admit that Saturday was an effective demonstration of Alabama’s potential.

Whether Alabama’s potential is enough to get it back into the playoff conversation is an open question. The Tide’s next test will be as tough as it gets — a road trip to Athens to face Georgia in two weeks.

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what anyone else says about us,” Williams said. “We just focus on playing for each other and playing at a high level because as long as we play for each other, I mean, you see what happens.”

Source link

Democrats dig in on health care as threat of government shutdown looms

Published

3 hours ago

September 13, 2025

Erin Doherty

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks to reporters as Senate Democratic leaders hold a press conference following their weekly policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., Sept. 9, 2025.

Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters

Congressional Democrats are zeroing in on health care as a key sticking point in negotiations with the threat of a government shutdown looming.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, have said that they will not support GOP-backed legislation to keep the government funded unless it includes certain health-care provisions, setting up a bitter policy fight with GOP lawmakers that could trigger a shutdown.

“We have made clear that under no circumstances will we support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to rip away health care from the American people,” Jeffries said on the House floor this week.

With funding on the brink, congressional Democrats are demanding that any legislation that would avert a shutdown include an extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of this year unless Congress intervenes.

If the tax credits disappear, average premiums could soar by about 75%, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group.

The vast majority of Americans with a health plan from the ACA marketplace had a premium tax credit in 2025, according to KFF, meaning their elimination would have widespread consequences.

Democrats have also repeatedly criticized the cuts to Medicaid that were part of the “One, Big Beautiful Bill,” and they want Republicans to reverse them.

Published

3 hours ago

September 13, 2025

Grace Raynor

No. 12 Clemson entered the 2025 season with national championship potential. But after two losses in three weeks, coach Dabo Swinney and the Tigers are staring down a whole bunch of questions and don’t seem to have many answers.

Clemson’s latest struggle came at Bobby Dodd Field on Saturday afternoon, where Georgia Tech won 24-21 on Aidan Birr’s 55-yard, game-winning field goal as time expired. Georgia Tech fans stormed the field, with the Yellow Jackets improving to 3-0 and looking like a dark-horse College Football Playoff contender.

Swinney grimaced as he headed to shake Georgia Tech coach Brent Key’s hand, his Tigers now 1-2 to start the season for the first time since 2014.

“The only thing worse than 1-2 is 1-3,” Swinney said. “We’ve gotta find a way to win a game. We can’t put our head down and pout.”

Clemson’s biggest problem? For as much talent as they have, the Tigers could never get out of their own way with offensive turnovers and defensive lapses.

GEORGIA TECH HITS THE 55-YARD FIELD GOAL AS TIME EXPIRES TO SNAP ITS NINE-GAME LOSING STREAK VS. CLEMSON‼️ pic.twitter.com/14ywZCrWW3

— ESPN (@espn) September 13, 2025

The issues started early and often for Clemson.

Quarterback Cade Klubnik, projected to be a Heisman contender and one of the best quarterbacks in the nation, fumbled on the Tigers’ first possession of the game, which Georgia Tech turned into a field goal on the other end to take a 3-0 lead. Clemson kicker Nolan Hauser then missed a 52-yarder with 1:45 to go in the first quarter.
The Yellow Jackets went up 10-0 early in the second quarter thanks to quarterback Haynes King connecting with receiver Eric Rivers on a 42-yard gain at the end of the first to set up running back Jamal Haynes’ 5-yard rushing touchdown. Midway through the second, Georgia Tech extended its lead to 13-0 with another field goal.

Just when it looked like the Tigers had finally found some life with a touchdown before halftime — which, by the way, took three tries inside the 5-yard line — Klubnik threw a costly interception inside Georgia Tech’s 10-yard line on the first drive of the third quarter. Coming away with no points may ultimately have been the difference for a Clemson team whose offense hasn’t been able to get into a rhythm at any point through the first three weeks of the season.

The Tigers bounced back and took a 14-13 lead when Klubnik connected with sophomore receiver Bryant Wesco Jr. for a 73-yard score. They scored again with 3:26 left in the game to tie it at 21.

But King gave Clemson problems all day — finishing the afternoon 20-of-28 passing for 211 yards, while also gashing Clemson’s defense to the tune of 101 yards rushing and a touchdown on 25 carries. The Tigers’ defense could never bottle him up, missing assignments and tackles, and Georgia Tech averaged 6.2 yards per play to Clemson’s 5.1. The Tigers also had three penalties, went 0-for-2 on fourth down, couldn’t get the production they needed up front and averaged 3.5 yards per rush to Georgia Tech’s five.

Where Clemson goes from here is perhaps the most interesting storyline in the ACC. The Tigers’ start — losses to LSU and Georgia Tech and a come-from-behind win over Troy — has dropped their odds of making the Playoff to just 18 percent, according to The Athletic’s Austin Mock, down from 80 percent in the preseason. (Georgia Tech’s odds increased to 23 percent Saturday.) Clemson, just 0-1 in the ACC, could still win the league and punch its ticket into the Playoff. But given how Swinney’s team has looked through the first three weeks, the Tigers don’t seem poised to meet the national championship expectations they had a month ago.

“We’ve got no room for error,” Swinney said. “We’re uphill and the wind’s at our face. That’s for sure. But hey, gotta do it the hard way if we’re gonna do it. But we’re not out. … We’ve still got life and as long as we stay together and as long as we keep competing, anything can happen. We’ve just got to find a way to win a game.”

This story will be updated.

(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)

Source link