Stephen Colbert announced Thursday that Barack Obama will sit down with him on May 5 for what will be one of the final major interviews of The Late Show's run on CBS.
Colbert made the announcement during Thursday's episode. "Tuesday, May 5, here on 'The Late Show,' in his first interview from the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, I will be sitting down with former President Barack Obama," he told his audience.
It will be the pair's last televised conversation on the program. Obama appeared three times on Colbert's Comedy Central show The Colbert Report, and made additional appearances on The Late Show in 2016 and 2020.
The Late Show is set to air its final episode on May 21. CBS confirmed the end date in January, roughly six months after announcing the cancellation last summer. The network cited financial reasons. The announcement came shortly after Colbert mocked Paramount's $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump on air, though CBS executives were explicit that the decision was not tied to that segment.
Colbert has been candid about how the ending feels as the date approaches. In January, appearing on Late Night with Seth Meyers, he said the reality of the cancellation had begun to set in. "It feels real now," he said. "I'm not thrilled with it." He added that what he would miss most is the people he works with, not the show itself.
"I'm not being replaced. This is all just going away," Colbert said during a monologue last July after the cancellation was announced, while also thanking CBS for the platform.
The Obama interview on May 5 will air at 11:35 p.m. ET on CBS.
