Stephen Colbert has taped his final episode of The Late Show and was joined by a star-studded lineup of guests.
Paul McCartney was one of the star attractions for the finale, marking his latest return to the Ed Sullivan Theater, the site of The Beatles’ historic live performance in 1964.
McCartney has been back since with a six-song set in 2009 for The Late Show with David Letterman above the Ed Sullivan Theater’s marquee. He also appeared on Colbert’s The Late Show in 2019 to promote his children’s book Hey Granddude!.
The musician has had a busy week in New York given that he performed at the season finale of Saturday Night Live last weekend.
Jon Batiste, the former Late Show bandleader, is understood to have also performed.
Deadline understands that there were a number of A-list cameos during the show, which is expected to run 17 minutes longer than its usual hour. These included Paul Rudd, who has appeared on the show over a dozen times, Bryan Cranston and Ryan Reynolds, who is thought to have played tambourine during the show.
Expect plenty more star-studded appearances as Colbert closes out the franchise, which began airing on CBS in 1993.
Unlike normal episodes of the late-night talker, security was tight outside the studio, which was under heavy secrecy. The stage door had a large black security tower against it with heavy curtains that security guards were drawing around each car as stars exited.
The scene outside the Ed Sullivan Theater after Stephen Colbert’s final Late Show (Jill Goldsmith)
The presence of the oversized security tent, which shrouded the identities of anyone coming and going, frustrated onlookers, who sporadically booed. One fan shouted, “Whoever you are, we love you!” as the crowd reflexively broke into the signature “Ste-phen! Ste-phen!” chant raised by the studio audience during the show’s run.
The studio audience just left the theater in the last few moments with one audience member telling Deadline that they were “moved” by the farewell.
One fan exiting said Colbert was “very intentional” in coming out to speak to the audience before the show started taping and making the point that, on the last night, the team didn’t want a spectacle, rather to do their best work, like they do every night.
“I think that everyone that was on stage tonight really showed care to just give a great performance and focus on having joy — that was very much the theme they set out,” the fan told Deadline.
He found the most emotional moment was an exchange between music director and bandleader Louis Cato and Colbert at the end of the show. “Louis spoke for the crew, for the writers, for craft design, for everyone, and really shared what it meant to all of them to have Stephen Colbert as a leader,” he added.
Colbert has had quite the lineup for his last week of shows; Bruce Springsteen performed Streets of Minneapolis last night, where guests included Billy Crystal, Weird Al Yankovic, Josh Brolin, Martha Stewart, Jeff Daniels, Aubrey Plaza, James Taylor, Robert De Niro and John Dickerson.
Earlier in the week, Steven Spielberg turned up, as did Colbert’s old friend Jon Stewart and former Late Show host David Letterman.
Fans gathered outside The Late Show with Stephen Colbert finale (Jill Goldsmith)
The finale airs on CBS at 11:35pm.
