Stephen Colbert has been hosting The Late Show since September 2015. During that time, he has invited plenty of celebrity guests to sit down and chat about their latest projects.
Sometimes, these appearances are fun and lighthearted. For example, when Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe appeared, they delighted Colbert’s audience by turning the tables on the host. When Mariah Carey appeared, her personality was the perfect fit for Colbert’s crowd.
When Stephen Curry sat down on Colbert’s couch, it followed a huge win at the Paris Olympics. After scoring his first Gold Medal, Curry was in a great mood and had a lot of fun with Colbert. The appearance marked Curry’s second time on the show and Colbert was sure to remind him how long ago his first appearance was.
Stephen Curry Finally Made His Return To Stephen Colbert’s Late Show In An Interview Fans Had A Blast With
In September 2024, Stephen Curry appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The two had a wide-ranging discussion which began with the host reminding Curry how long it had been since his last appearance.
“Really enjoyed the last time you were here,” Colbert began. “I just want to point out one thing. Tonight is show 1,542. You were last here on show ten.”
“Ten years ago,” Curry said.
“Exactly, we were just waiting to invite you back until you achieved something,” Colbert jokingly said, referring to Curry’s win at the Paris Olympics.
When discussing Curry’s first Olympic Gold Medal, Colbert asked him to rank his Olympic win among his other accomplishments.
“I mean, it’s different, because obviously, NBA championships, it’s a nine-month journey, 82 games, a playoff, so there’s such a big build-up, but it’s a tough choice,”
Curry said
. “Like, this is definitely fifth on the title, but it has a different emotion when it comes to it.”
Curry then gave Colbert an example of what makes his Gold Medal different from his other wins.
“I can come in any building, and y’all gonna yell USA,” Curry said. “I don’t know how many Warrior fans are in here. So, it’s a… This is definitely a cheat code right here.”
This was proven when Curry walked onto set. He was, of course, greeted with applause, followed by chants of “USA! USA! USA!”
Despite the fact that Team USA was winning left and right, Curry was feeling down about his own performance during the Olympics. Colbert then jokingly asked Curry how he turned it around.
“What did you do to flip the switch? Did you, like, look in the mirror one night and say, ‘Hey, man, you’re Steph Curry.’ And you went, ‘Oh, right, I forgot, I’m Steph Curry.'”
Curry then told a story about an encounter with LeBron James following the Puerto Rico game.
“After we played Puerto Rico in the pool play round, I was doing an interview with one of the guys from the Bay Area,”
Curry began
. “As he’s talking, he’s asking me the same question, ‘What’s wrong with your shot? Are you worried about it?’ And the positive self-talk came out, I was like, ‘No, we’re winning. I know it’s gonna come. I know a flurry is coming.’ As soon as I said it, LeBron walks right behind me, and he’s like, ‘Damn right it is.’ Like, with his little baritone voice. I’m like, ‘Yeah, yeah.'”
Although the two have had their battles on the court, fans everywhere were thrilled to see Curry and James play together. However, Curry joked with Colbert that he needed to adjust to the situation.
“First, it caught me off guard because I still had to get used to liking that guy because of all of our battles,” Curry said. “And now we’re teammates and friends, and it was definitely a confidence boost.”
The French announcers certainly weren’t happy with Curry’s win, calling him “the Devil.” Curry told Colbert he thought this was “hilarious,” but he “will not be adopting the nickname.”
Another stand-out moment from Curry’s interview came when Colbert asked him about playing golf with President Obama. Curry’s famous golfing partner was brought up when discussing his own league, Underrated Golf.
“Oh, he’s [Obama is] a hustler,” Curry quipped. “He’s good. [We played games with] Just a dollar bet, just to make it fun. Just to make sure there’s a winner and a loser.”
He continued, “He’s lefty. I call him very resourceful, he doesn’t hit it very far, but he hits it straight, and he’s a great partner to have because he likes to talk trash too. He’s good with the words.”
Stephen Curry Wasn’t The First Guest To Delight Audiences By Joking Around With Colbert
In 2016, Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe appeared on
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
to promote their comedy film
The Nice Guys
.
That same year, Crowe opened up to The Hollywood Reporter about why he believed audiences were enjoying the film.
“There’s a long history of great detective stories and that’s what this is,” Crowe told the outlet. “And as funny as it may be, there’s a real density to the narrative and there’s very much a story to follow, so I think that’s what people are also getting into it as well. It keeps you guessing.”
The film’s director, Shane Black, also talked about the chemistry between Gosling and Crowe.
“I’ve been on sets where the two guys didn’t like each other very much,” Black said. “That’s a terrible situation and this was not that. The problem was, if any, was that they were ruining takes because they would make each other laugh and they were sadistic about it.”
Part of that came through in their appearance on Colbert’s show. Crowe and Gosling participated in a pre-planned skit with Colbert during the interview. Crowe acted like he didn’t need Gosling to do the film and Gosling got so offended, he walked out. Then, both Crowe and Colbert begged Gosling to come back on stage.
“I’m pretty sure on some level, Stephen genuinely lost control of the sketch,” someone wrote in the YouTube comments.
Another commented, “I love how Ryan just acts like a child.”
When Mariah Carey appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2022, she discussed all things Christmas. It marked her second appearance on the show.
Carey previously appeared via Zoom in 2020 to discuss her New York Times bestselling memoir “The Meaning of Mariah Carey.”
This time, Carey was there to promote her Christmas tour, whose New York City shows were filmed for a CBS special.
When Colbert mentioned Carey being referred to as “the Queen of Christmas,” the singer took a moment to set the record straight. Although lots of people believe Carey has given herself that title, she insisted this wasn’t the case.
“I did not call myself the Queen of Christmas,”
she said
. “They can look up every interview I’ve ever done, and not to get super religious, but I think if anybody would be the Queen of Christmas, that would be Mary.”
Carey also told Colbert that her love of Christmas was genuine and came from her troubled childhood.
“I just happen to really love Christmas because I had kind of a tough childhood and I always wanted Christmas to be perfect and it never was,” Carey said. “So then, when I was able to finally provide myself with, and my friends, and now my little kids who are 11, we have the most festive Christmas ever…because its actually authentic, and it came from a place of longing to have some normalcy and peace and just like, a lovely holiday.”
Fans on YouTube complimented Carey’s handling of the “Colbert Questionert,” noting that she took control of the interview.
- “A true diva!!! She answers the questions she wants to,” one user commented.
- “I’ve never seen her so chatty, loved the confusion!” another wrote. “Steven lost himself couple of times, she avoided everything she could, it’s all fun when people have positive vibes.”
- “What I like about Mariah Carey is that she is unapologetically herself,” another fan commented. “She doesn’t try to appease anyone. She comes across as witty, dominating and also playful in this interview and I love every second of it.”
This One Talk Show Guest Didn’t Return To The ‘Late Show’ For 16 Years, But For A Very Different Reason
For many years, rumors circulated of a feud between former Late Show host David Letterman and Oprah Winfrey. According to reports, the bad blood began when Winfrey was a guest on Letterman’s show in 1989. Winfrey was rumored to be “uncomfortable” by the experience and refused to be a guest on his show again.
When interviewing Letterman for an episode of Oprah’s Next Chapter in 2013, Winfrey confirmed the story.
In the years that followed, Letterman joked about Winfrey frequently, including at the 1995 Academy Awards.
Winfrey didn’t return to Letterman’s show for 16 years, finally making another appearance in 2005.
In 2010, Letterman told Jon Stewart that Winfrey was mad at him when he stuck her with his restaurant bill when they were vacationing at the same place.
When speaking to Winfrey during their 2013 interview, Letterman apologized for her bad experience on his show. He said that he would be “embarrassed” to see the tape of the interview now.
