RUNNING LATE Stephen Colbert’s Late Show announces sudden schedule change for celeb-packed finale night
THE final episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is being broadcast a little differently for an epic send-off.
The late-night talk show, hosted by Stephen Colbert, is ending on Thursday after over a decade on the air.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is getting a considerable schedule change for the finaleCredit: Getty
The finale will run longer than the show’s typical hour-long episodesCredit: Getty
As a special farewell, the show has an A-list lineup of guests all week, and other surprises that will run the finale longer than usual.
According to a CBS promo for the week, it’s “all leading up to the extended Late Show series finale.”
It’s unknown how much longer the finale will be compared to the typical hour-long episodes.
When David Letterman, who hosted the show before Stephen, said his farewell in 2015, the finale ran 17 minutes over, though that
The show’s executive producer, Barbara Gaines, revealed that CBS approved the extended episode later in the evening, prompting the staff to rush to finish the final edit before its 11:35 p.m. airtime.
However, this time around seems more strategic, especially given that the network retired the entire franchise and is not just switching hosts.
More eyes will also be on the finale, since other late-night broadcasts like The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Late Night with Seth Meyers are all going dark.
The final four guests appearing on the show this week are Jon Stewart, Steven Spielberg, David Byrne, and Bruce Springsteen.
The program also strayed from its usual format, with Monday’s episode featuring staff members in a special segment.
It involved Stephen presenting bits that were previously rejected and never made it to air during the series’ 11-season run.
The TV host is also reversing the roles in his fan-favorite “Colbert Questionert,” where he’ll answer rapid-fire questions from his guests rather than the other way around.
Festivities will continue long after taping wraps at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City.
According to Variety, Stephen is hosting a celebrity-packed afterparty at a nearby venue, with a “Fired & Festive” dress code.
CBS announced in July that the franchise wouldn’t return after this season, though they insisted the decision was “purely financial” and not a reflection of the show’s performance.
The finale week also includes A-list guests and special segments Credit: Getty
Host Stephen Colbert is hosting a massive celebrity-packed afterparty at a nearby venueCredit: Splash
Still, Stephen lashed out at the network and President Donald Trump, who has vowed to cancel all late-night show hosts who’ve criticized his politics, in his opening monologue on July 21.
“Folks, I’m gonna go ahead and say it: Cancel culture has gone too far,” Stephen told his studio audience.
“Over the weekend, it sunk in that they’re killing off our show.
“But they made one mistake: They left me alive. And now, for the next 10 months, the gloves are off.
“I can finally speak unvarnished truth to power and say what I really think about Donald Trump, starting right now,” he ranted.
Beginning Friday, the show’s timeslot will be filled by Comics Unleashed with Bryon Allen, followed by the comedy game show Funny You Should Ask.
Trump Admin Says It Uncovered $10 Billion Obamacare Fraud Scheme
The Trump administration says it has uncovered what it describes as a massive fraud scheme within the Affordable Care Act.
Members of Trump’s administration allege that roughly $10 billion in taxpayer money was improperly paid out between 2021 and 2024 because of weakened enrollment safeguards under former President Joe Biden.
According to a Department of Health and Human Services report, officials have already removed nearly three million fraudulent or improper Obamacare enrollments and estimate another 2.6 million questionable enrollments remain.
Administration officials say the findings are part of a broader government-wide effort to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse across federal programs.
The report traces the alleged problems to changes made during the Biden administration that expanded enrollment opportunities while relaxing income verification and eligibility checks.
At the start of Biden’s presidency, approximately 10 million people were enrolled through the Affordable Care Act exchanges. By 2024, enrollment had surged to roughly 22 million.
Federal investigators now believe millions of those enrollments were improper, fraudulent, or created without the knowledge of the individuals involved.
“By our estimate, improper, phantom, and fraudulent enrollment peaked at 5.6 million people in 2025,” the report states.
“We estimate 2.6 million improper and phantom enrollments remain, including over 1 million enrollments without a Social Security number.”
According to the report, several different forms of abuse contributed to the alleged fraud.
Officials say some applicants intentionally understated their income to qualify for larger taxpayer-funded subsidies.
Others allegedly received premium assistance despite failing to meet eligibility requirements.
Investigators also identified what they describe as “phantom enrollments,” in which insurance brokers allegedly enrolled people in Obamacare plans without their knowledge to collect federal commissions.
The report argues that reduced verification requirements made those practices significantly easier to carry out.
Since taking office, the Trump administration says it has restored stricter income verification requirements, ended several special enrollment periods, increased screening for duplicate Medicaid enrollment, and launched investigations into brokers suspected of creating phantom policies.
Officials also say they have strengthened oversight of agents participating in the federal marketplace.
As a result of those efforts, nearly three million enrollments have already been removed from the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
Even after those removals, approximately 19.2 million people remain enrolled.
The administration says its goal is not to reduce legitimate coverage but to ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent only on individuals who actually qualify.
“Preserving the fiscal and programmatic integrity of the ACA Exchanges is key to safeguarding taxpayer-funded resources for those that truly need them,” the report states.
“The federal government paying brokers to enroll individuals without their knowledge is not.”
The report also says the administration will continue pursuing additional enforcement actions against brokers and others accused of exploiting the program.
“The Trump Administration continues to aggressively root out fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption by promulgating new regulations to improve program integrity, investigating suspected improper or fraudulent enrollment, and taking action against agents and brokers committing fraud.”
The findings are likely to reignite debate over the Affordable Care Act and how aggressively eligibility rules should be enforced.
Supporters of the administration argue the report demonstrates that stricter oversight is necessary to protect taxpayers and preserve benefits for those legally entitled to receive them.
Critics of previous verification rollbacks have long warned that loosening enrollment safeguards could increase improper payments and fraud, while supporters of the Biden-era policies argued the changes made healthcare more accessible to eligible Americans, Fox News reported exclusively.
The administration says its investigations remain ongoing, with an estimated 2.6 million additional enrollments still under review as officials continue auditing the federal health insurance exchanges.
Trump has been pushing to replace Obamacare for over a decade, and this may give Republicans enough motivation to actually do something.
