For 20 years, Stephen Colbert distinguished truth from truthiness

Analysis For 20 years, Stephen Colbert distinguished truth from truthiness May 18, 20265:00 AM ET Eric Deggans Stephen Colbert during a taping of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report in December 2014. Andrew Harrer/Pool/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Andrew Harrer/Pool/Getty Images After more than 3,000 episodes of television stretched over 20 years and two TV networks, this critic believes Stephen Colbert's greatest legacy as a host and performer comes down to a single word. Truthiness. Colbert highlighted it on the very first episode of his Colbert Report, a spinoff of The Daily Show which featured him as a blown-up parody of TV pundits like original Fox News Channel star Bill O'Reilly — championing the idea of believing something because it feels true, regardless of the facts. "I don't trust books," he says in a segment from that first show. "They're all facts and no heart." Sponsor Message And now, as his Late Show ends an 11-year run Thursday — canceled by CBS despite top ratings in a move some suspect was rooted in silencing a high-profile critic of President Trump — it seems Colbert may have been felled by his stance against such thinking. "Stephen Colbert has shown, more so than anyone else of this modern era of late night, the power of sticking to the truth," says Roy Wood Jr., a former correspondent on The Daily Show and host of CNN's satire program, Have I Got News for You. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and guests Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, and Seth Meyers during Monday's May 11, 2026 show. Scott Kowalchyk/CBS Broadcasting Inc. hide caption toggle caption Scott Kowalchyk/CBS Broadcasting Inc. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and guests Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, and Seth Meyers during Monday's May 11, 2026 show. Scott Kowalchyk/CBS Broadcasting Inc. hide caption toggle caption Scott Kowalchyk/CBS Broadcasting Inc. Stephen Colbert and late night hosts strike again as his show nears finale