Stephen Colbert’s final season of The Late Show has collected five Emmys, turning an already contentious CBS departure into one of the defining stories of the 2026 awards weekend.
by Paul Cashmere
Stephen Colbert has won five 2026 Emmy Awards for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, adding a sixth Emmy for the programme’s digital companion Colbert Before Air, just months after CBS ended the long-running late-night series amid an unresolved political controversy involving Donald Trump, Paramount and the proposed Skydance merger.
The awards were presented during the first night of the 78th Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on September 5. The Late Show won for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, Directing for a Variety Series, Picture Editing for Variety Programming (Segment), Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Series, and Technical Direction and Camerawork for a Series.
The result carries particular significance because CBS announced in July 2025 that The Late Show would end after the 2025-26 season, describing the decision as financial and saying it was unrelated to the programme’s performance or content. CBS also said Stephen Colbert was “irreplaceable” and that the franchise itself would be retired.
The timing immediately raised questions. Days before the cancellation, Colbert had criticised Paramount’s $16 million settlement with Trump over a lawsuit concerning the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. Colbert described the settlement as a “big fat bribe”, linking it to Paramount’s effort to secure regulatory approval for its merger with Skydance.
Trump subsequently celebrated Colbert’s removal from CBS. The President said he was pleased that Colbert had been fired and suggested other late-night hosts could follow. Two days after CBS announced the cancellation, the Federal Communications Commission approved the Paramount-Skydance transaction following months of negotiations involving the company, the FCC and the Trump administration.
That sequence of events has fuelled the argument that CBS and Paramount effectively caved to political pressure from Trump. It remains important, however, to distinguish documented chronology from proof of causation. There is no established evidence that Trump personally ordered CBS to cancel The Late Show, and both CBS and Trump rejected the suggestion that he was responsible for the decision. CBS’s stated reason remains financial. A subsequent US Senate hearing nevertheless examined the relationship between the Trump settlement, the merger approval and the cancellation, with lawmakers raising concerns about political influence over media ownership and editorial independence.
For Stephen Colbert, the Emmy result provides a powerful counterpoint to the circumstances of his departure. The Television Academy confirmed that The Late Show collected five awards, while Colbert Before Air won Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series. The five awards for the parent programme recognised work across writing, directing, editing, lighting and technical production.
The writing victory was particularly notable. The Late Show ended Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’s decade-long winning run in Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series. The result also reinforced the breadth of the programme’s production achievement, with technical and creative departments receiving recognition even as the network had decided to close the franchise.
The digital victory was another distinction. Colbert Before Air, produced as a short-form extension of The Late Show, won its category against programming from The Daily Show and other digital comedy productions. Together, the six awards meant the Colbert team left the first Emmy weekend with one of the strongest results of the ceremony.
The wider Night One result was led by The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny, which won seven awards. The Traitors followed with six, while The Muppet Show collected four and Love on the Spectrum three. My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay and Ocean with David Attenborough each won two.
Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour | The Final Show, which had five nominations, did not win during Night One. The Muppet Show defeated the concert film in Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), while Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl production dominated the live variety categories.
The Emmy recognition comes after The Late Show’s final broadcast in May 2026, ending Stephen Colbert’s decade as host. The programme had been the leading US broadcast late-night show for nine consecutive seasons according to CBS, making its cancellation particularly consequential within a television environment already under pressure from streaming and changing viewing habits.
The main Primetime Emmy ceremony will take place on September 14, hosted by Mariska Hargitay. The Late Show is also in contention for Outstanding Talk Series, meaning Stephen Colbert’s Emmy story is not finished. Whatever ultimately happens at the main ceremony, the first weekend has already delivered an unusually pointed conclusion: CBS may have ended the show, but its final season has continued to collect television’s most prominent industry recognition.
2026 Emmy Awards Night One: Complete Winners List
Outstanding Performer in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series: Desi Lydic, The Daily Show: Desi Lydic Foxsplains
Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program: Alan Cumming, The Traitors
Outstanding Host for a Game Show: Jimmy Kimmel, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
Outstanding Narrator: Octavia Spencer, Lost Women of Alaska: The Missing
Outstanding Production Design for a Variety or Reality Series: The Traitors
Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special: The Muppet Show
Outstanding Casting for a Reality Program: Love on the Spectrum
Outstanding Choreography for Variety or Reality Programming: The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny
Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program: Ocean with David Attenborough
Outstanding Cinematography for a Reality Program: The Traitors
Outstanding Commercial: I’m Not Remarkable, Apple
Outstanding Costumes for Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Programming: The Masked Singer and The Traitors (juried recipients)
Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series: Yvonne De Mare, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special: Hamish Hamilton, The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny
Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program: Mariska Hargitay, My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay
Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program: Ben Archard, The Traitors
Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming: The Muppet Show
Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming (Segment): The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program: Sean Combs: The Reckoning
Outstanding Picture Editing for a Structured Reality or Competition Program: The Traitors
Outstanding Picture Editing for an Unstructured Reality Program: Love on the Spectrum
Outstanding Emerging Media Program: Uncanny Alley: A New Day
Outstanding Innovation in Emerging Media Programming: Crafting Crimes (juried recipient)
Outstanding Hairstyling for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program: RuPaul’s Drag Race
Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Series: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Special: The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny
Outstanding Makeup for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program: Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary/Nonfiction or Reality Program (Original Dramatic Score): John Candy: I Like Me
Outstanding Music Direction: The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny
Outstanding Variety Special (Live): The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny
Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded): The Muppet Show
Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series: Colbert Before Air
Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series: Inside The Pitt
Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special: My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay
Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series: Mr. Scorsese
Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special: Tucci in Italy
Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking: The Librarians
Outstanding Structured Reality Program: Antiques Roadshow
Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program: Love on the Spectrum
Outstanding Game Show: Jeopardy!
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program: Ocean with David Attenborough
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety Series or Special: The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program: Billy Joel: And So It Goes
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Reality Program: Welcome to Wrexham
Outstanding Technical Direction and Camerawork for a Series: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Outstanding Technical Direction and Camerawork for a Special: The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special: The Muppet Show
Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program: The Daily Show Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: Give the Man a Prize
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