Stephen Colbert’s New Gig Revealed Following The Late Show Cancellation
Colbert has landed a guest role on ‘Elsbeth’ after previously asking to play a “corpse” on the CBS series
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Weeks after CBS canceled Stephen Colbert‘s The Late Show, the comedian has landed a new gig.
PEOPLE has learned that Colbert will guest star on Elsbeth season 3. Better yet, art will imitate life, as he will play a late-night talk show host.
CBS declined to comment when reached by PEOPLE.
Elsbeth stars Carrie Preston as the titular Elsbeth Tascioni, an attorney from Chicago who utilizes her equally unique and quirky perspective to help the New York Police Department solve crimes. The show also stars Wendell Pierce as the NYPD captain overseeing Elsbeth, and Carra Patterson plays an NYPD officer who befriends Elsbeth.
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Colbert will join the star-studded list of celebrities who have made guest appearances on Elsbeth.
The show, a spinoff of The Good Wife and The Good Fight, kicked off with a True Blood reunion between Preston and Stephen Moyer.
Additional season 1 guest stars included Jane Krakowski, Linda Lavin, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Retta, Blair Underwood, Gina Gershon, Keegan-Michael Key, Laura Benanti and more.
The list of guest stars only grew larger for season 2. It included Nathan Lane, Vanessa Williams, Pamela Adlon, Vanessa Bayer, Laurie Metcalf, Eric McCormack, Matthew Broderick, Jordana Brewster, Alyssa Milano, Mary-Louise Parker, David Alan Grier and Ethan Slater, to name a few.
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Colbert previously voiced his desire to appear on Elsbeth.
Pierce stopped by The Late Show in February, and Colbert asked the actor if he could help him fulfill his dream “to be a corpse on one of these shows.”
“I want to be the body that’s found behind the pile of lettuce boxes,” Colbert pleaded.
Pierce responded with a laugh, “I can make that happen. I know a guy who knows a guy. We can get you on.”
News of Colbert’s new gig comes after he announced that The Late Show was ending in May 2026 during the July 17 episode.
“Before we start the show, I want you to know something that I found out just last night. Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending The Late Show in May,” Colbert, who began hosting the show in 2015, told the studio audience.
“It’s not just the end of our show, but it’s the end of The Late Show at CBS. I’m not being replaced,” he added. “This is all just going away. And I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners.”
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In a statement shared with PEOPLE, CBS called the move “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”
“It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount,” the statement continued, with the network expressing “admiration, affection, and respect” for Colbert, which it added “made this agonizing decision even more difficult.”
The timing of The Late Show‘s cancellation came days after Colbert criticized the network’s parent company, Paramount, for reaching a $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump earlier in the month.
The settlement also came in the midst Paramount’s plans of a merger with the entertainment company Skydance, a move that would require approval from Trump’s administration.
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Elsbeth is streaming on Paramount+.
