The celebrity guests asked Colbert questions ranging from his "favorite action movie" to whether he preferred "cats or dogs"
Credit: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS
NEED TO KNOW
- Stephen Colbert’s celebrity friends asked him personal questions during the “Colbert Questionert” segment on his penultimate The Late Show with Stephen Colbert episode on Wednesday, May 20.
- Guests included Billy Crystal, Robert De Niro, Mark Hamill, Martha Stewart, Aubrey Plaza, Amy Sedaris and more.
- The show is ending on May 21 after 11 seasons, following CBS’s cancellation amid controversy involving Colbert’s criticism of Paramount’s Trump settlement.
Stephen Colbert is waving farewell to his eponymous talk show in style!
Several of Colbert's celebrity friends took turns questioning the 62-year-old host during The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's popular “Colbert Questionert” segment during its penultimate episode on Wednesday, May 20.
The big names who showed up included Billy Crystal, Robert De Niro, Mark Hamill, Martha Stewart, Josh Brolin, Jim Gaffigan, Jeff Daniels, Tiffany Haddish, Evie McGee Colbert, Amy Sedaris, Ben Stiller, Aubrey Plaza, “Weird Al” Yankovic and James Taylor.
However, instead of Colbert asking the questions this time, the celebrity guests each took turns asking Colbert questions, facilitated by journalist John Dickerson, 57. Crystal, 78, kicked off the segment by asking the TV host what “the best sandwich” is, to which Colbert eventually conceded that “Katz's Deli's hot pastrami," tops his charts.
Other A-listers asked him about the “first concert” he attended and “the scariest animal” — the latter of which was asked by Brolin, 58, who also gifted Colbert with a ship in a bottle with the phrase, “May you always glide through life's sometimes tumultuous waters.”
Stewart, 84, noted that while she was “very happy” to be there on the show, she was “also very sad” because “maybe, I won't be here again,” to which Colbert jokingly responded, “You will not.” She then went on to ask a “simple question” of whether Colbert preferred apples or oranges, and he said he'd choose the former.
Credit: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS
Hamill, 74, then took the stage to ask Colbert if he'd ever asked a celebrity for their “autograph,” to which the TV host said that he had asked Steve Martin, 80 — who was in his “Mount Rushmore of comedy” to sign something for him.
“After the show was over, I said, ‘Would you mind signing this [painting made on The Colbert Report?'] He signed across the top of his face, and I had it framed and had it hung in my office… where there used to be a clock.”
“I like to say in my office, it's always Steve Martin O'Clock,” he quipped.
Several more celebrities asked him questions such as, “What do you think happens when we die?,” and whether he preferred the “window or aisle." Colbert was also asked about his “favorite action movie,” which he noted was “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
Plaza, 41, joked that her “water broke,” but that she could “still do this," before the actress asked whether Colbert preferred “cats or dogs,” and he answered the latter.
Credit: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS
Dickerson was honored with asking the final question in the segment for which he asked Colbert to "describe the rest of your life in 5 words.” “My family, my friends, fun," the host replied, prompting the journalist to respond, "God bless you, Stephen Colbert.”
The celebrity appearances come one day before Colbert is set to end his show, which he took over from David Letterman in 2015, after 11 seasons. Letterman began the show in 1993.
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Credit: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS
In July 2025, CBS announced the program's cancellation. The decision came after Colbert criticized the network's parent company, Paramount, for its $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump. Trump sued CBS' 60 Minutes, accusing them of deceptively editing an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. At the time, Paramount was in the middle of a merger with the entertainment company Skydance, which required approval from the Trump administration.
While reflecting on the end of the show, Colbert told PEOPLE earlier this week, "I mean, you can't do this forever. You have to think about, well, when is the right time to end your tenure? I didn't think this soon, but I mean, who knows? Maybe CBS saved my life because it takes a lot of bone marrow to do the show every day, and now I'll be stepping down with enough time, enough energy to do other things that I want to do."
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