The Late Show With Stephen Colbert claimed the award for Outstanding Talk Series at the 77th Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 14.
The audience at the Peacock Theater in Downtown Los Angeles rose to its feet when Colbert hit the stage, chanting, “Stephen! Stephen! Stephen!”
The win comes nearly two months after Stephen Colbert announced The Late Show with Stephen Colbert would be ending after 10 seasons.
“I want to thank CBS for giving us the privilege to be part of the late night tradition, which I hope continues long after we’re no longer doing the show,” Colbert said in accepting the award, thanking the studio despite his show’s cancellation.
The Daily Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live! were also up for the prize.
Announcing his show’s cancellation on the July 17 episode of his show, Colbert, 61, said, “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.”
In a statement from CBS shared with PEOPLE at time, CBS said, “This is 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 announcement came after Colbert criticized Paramount, the parent company of CBS, during his July 14 episode for its $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump on July 3.
The settlement occurred while Paramount was in the midst of a merger with the entertainment company Skydance, a business move that required approval from Trump’s administration. That merger was completed on Aug. 7.
In the aftermath of the decision, Jon Stewart and Jimmy Kimmel were among the late night hosts who voiced their support for Colbert.
On the July 21 episode of The Daily Show, Stewart, 62, fired back at Paramount over the cancellation.
“I understand the corporate fear,” Stewart said. “I understand the fear that you and your advertisers have with $8 billion at stake, but understand this, truly, the shows that you now seek to cancel, censor and control, a not insignificant portion of that $8 billion value came from those f—— shows. That’s what made you that money.”
The host also addressed the role politics plays in late night television, adding, “Shows that say something, shows that take a stand, shows that are unafraid. Believe me, this is not a ‘We speak truth to power’. We don’t; we speak opinions to television cameras, but we try. We f—— try every night. If you believe as corporations or as networks, you can make yourselves so innocuous that you can serve a gruel so flavorless that you will never again be on the boy king’s radar, [firstly] why will anyone watch you and you are f—— wrong.”
As for Kimmel, he took to his Instagram Story, writing, “Love you Stephen. F— you and all your Sheldons CBS.”
He later encouraged Emmy voters to vote for Colbert in the Outstanding Talk Series category by putting up a billboard ad in L.A.
The Tonight Show‘s Jimmy Fallon, Late Night‘s Seth Meyers, The Daily Show‘s Jon Stewart and Last Week Tonight‘s John Oliver all made unannounced cameos on The Late Show following the news to show their support, as well.
In light of the news, Trump repeatedly attacked the most prominent late-night hosts and celebrated the cancellation of Late Show With Stephen Colbert. He posted on Truth Social platform that high-profile terminations were coming at ABC and NBC, sparking confusion about whether Trump has any influence on major network decisions.
“The word is, and it’s a strong word at that, Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes and, shortly thereafter, [Jimmy] Fallon will be gone,” Trump, 79, claimed in the post.
“These are people with absolutely NO TALENT, who were paid Millions of Dollars for, in all cases, destroying what used to be GREAT Television,” the president continued. “It’s really good to see them go, and I hope I played a major part in it!”
When Kimmel returned to his late night show from a two-month summer vacation on Tuesday, Sept. 2, he took aim at the President, from his viral health rumors to his controversial White House renovations, in an unfiltered monologue.
The comedian responded directly to Trump’s threats that Jimmy Kimmel Live would be the next late-night show to be canceled.
“Oh, you delicate, chubby little teacup,” Kimmel said. “Did we hurt your feelings? You want us to be canceled because we make jokes about you?”
“I thought you were against cancel culture?” he continued. “I thought that was, like, their whole thing? When did you become so woke?”
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See PEOPLE’s full coverage of the 77th annual Primetime Emmy Awards as they’re broadcasting live on CBS and Paramount+ from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
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