Stephen Colbert was the first presenter out of the gate at Sunday night’s Emmy Awards on CBS and he was met with a hero’s welcome by the crowd, who leapt to their feet to support the late-night host after his untimely cancellation earlier this year as an apparent gift to Donald Trump.
“Thank you very much, you are very kind,” Colbert said from the stage as the applause continued. “Sit down! Thank you very much, we’ve got to go!”
When the auditorium of Hollywood heavyweights finally sat down, Colbert addressed his current situation. “While I have your attention, is anyone hiring?” he asked. “Because I’ve got 200 very qualified candidates with me here tonight who will be available in June,” he added, referring to his large staff who will be all be out of a job when The Late Show ends after its current season next May.
Colbert then pulled out his resume and outdated headshot, joking, “I think it still works.”
“I only have the one, so Harrison Ford, could you get this to Spielberg?” he asked, passing the paper down to the 83-year-old first-time Emmy nominee for Apple TV+’s Shrinking.
Even Sydney Sweeney could be seen in the crowd applauding Colbert as he ended his intro and presented the first award of the night to Seth Rogen for The Studio.
Colbert’s bit of celebrated self-deprecation came after a more politely received opening from the night’s host, stand-up comedian Nate Bargatze, who was joined by a handful SNL cast members to do a riff on his classic George Washington bit. It also included a dig at CBS, which is airing the Emmys. In character as the inventor of the television, Bargatze referring to CBS as the “network for white people.”
The ovation for Colbert foreshadowed his eventual win in the Outstanding Talk Series category later in the night, which he had never before won in his 10 years hosting The Late Show. His show won its first directing Emmy at last weekend’s Creative Arts ceremony and even his competition, Jimmy Kimmel, had been encouraging voters to support Colbert in solidarity against Trump.
Chants of “Stephen! Stephen!” greeted the host when he took the stage to accept his big award.
“Sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense that you might be losing it,” Colbert said in his acceptance speech. 10 years after taking over The Late Show, despite it all, he said, “I have never loved my country more desperately.”
“God bless America!” he concluded. “Stay strong, be brave, and if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor!”
