From Rolling Stone · Emily Zemler · · 1m 30s
Colbert: free speech is fine
After winning the Emmy for a show CBS just killed, Stephen Colbert refused to call it a free speech crisis.
In brief
After winning the Emmy for a show CBS just killed, Stephen Colbert refused to call it a free speech crisis. Colbert draws the line at jail, not cancellation: losing a show is a business decision, not censorship. Originally reported by Rolling Stone.
He won, then shrugged
Stephen Colbert took the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Series the same year CBS ended The Late Show. His verdict on the state of the country: free speech is alive and well.
“free speech is alive and well”
Where he draws the line
Colbert's test for censorship is simple and narrow. If speaking lands you in a cell, that is a violation. Losing a time slot is something else.
“Because if you can't say something because you go to jail, that is a violation of free speech”
Late night is still standing
He pointed to the shows that kept going, including The Tonight Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live, as proof the format has not been silenced.
“I think that late night is just as funny and just as vital as it ever has been”
The questions he dodged
Asked if Trump ended the show, Colbert pretended he could not hear out of one ear. Asked about Bari Weiss, now running CBS News, he said he had never heard of her.
“Do you know her? I hear great things.”
A trophy haul on the way out
The final season swept the Creative Arts Emmys too, with wins for writing, directing, technical direction, lighting and editing. Colbert spent his answer thanking the crew.
“we couldn't be more grateful to the academy and everybody who voted for the show”
Next stop, Middle-earth
His new job is writing a Lord of the Rings movie alongside Philippa Boyens and Peter McGee. The late-night desk is gone, the writing is not.
What to remember
Colbert draws the line at jail, not cancellation: losing a show is a business decision, not censorship.
