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In his first televised interview from the controversial Obama presidency, Barack Obama turns to a familiar companion: Stephen Colbert.
The sit-down comes just weeks before Colbert exits late-night television after CBS and parent company Paramount canceled “The Late Show.” Obama’s decision to sit down with Colbert, a supporter of the former president, drew fire from some conservative commentators.
Colbert has long been a supporter of the Democratic Alliance, most notably MCing a $26 million fundraiser for former presidents Joe Biden, Bill Clinton and Obama at Radio City Music Hall in 2024.
The former president has appeared frequently on Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” and “The Late Show.” In a 2020 interview, Colbert told Obama he needed to “drink [Obama] in” because he missed seeing the real president. He also copied and said, “I miss you” from a clip of Obama on his show during Trump’s first term.
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President Joe Biden and former President Bill Clinton take their seats as former President Barack Obama shakes hands with talk show host Stephen Colbert during a fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall on March 28, 2024, in New York City. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
The announcement of the interview drew criticism from Outkick writer Ian Miller, who argued that Colbert had long traded comedy for party activists. “Stephen Colbert is coming out the way he came in, completely refusing to do comedy and putting on the most boring left-wing talk show imaginable,” he wrote in X.
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Colbert announced the interview on his show Thursday, saying, “Tuesday, May 5 here on ‘The Late Show’ for his first interview at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, I’ll be sitting down with former President Barack Obama.”
Work continues on the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on Jan. 13, 2026. (E. Jason Wambscans/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service)
Alongside the clip posted on Instagram, “The Late Show” captioned it “Thank you, @barackobama.” The interview was confirmed by the Obama Foundation on Instagram, who wrote, “Couch booked. Volume up. Ready to go.”
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The President Obama Center is slated to open in June following years of public scrutiny of its design and its impact on the Chicago community. The building sits on Chicago’s South Side, where residents have given mixed reviews of its beauty since construction began in 2021.
Host Stephen Colbert during his show, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on July 21, 2025. (Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images)
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A Fox News Digital investigation revealed that the increase in public infrastructure costs needed to support the project is funded by the public. The advocacy group Protect Our Parks also spent years in court fighting the project, arguing that the use of Jackson Park is an illegal grant of public land to a private group.
Colbert’s interview with Obama comes just weeks before his show premieres on May 21. Paramount canceled “The Late Show” after reports it was losing more than $40 million a year on CBS.
CBS said the cancellation was “a financial decision in the face of late-night challenges” and denied that the show’s content played a role.
In addition to Colbert’s left-wing commentary, he writes far more political guests than his late-night counterparts. His guests during his program recently included Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Pete Buttigieg and John Kerry.
