Stephen Colbert Says ‘Free Speech Is Alive and Well’ After Emmy Win Despite CBS Cancellation: Late Night Is ‘Just as Vital as it Ever Has Been’

Stephen Colbert's "The Late Show" has won the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Series for the second consecutive time. The show, which ended its run on CBS four months ago, took home the award at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards.

In his acceptance speech, Colbert did not comment on the show's cancellation or make any political remarks. Instead, he used the opportunity to advocate for his former staff members, encouraging the industry to hire them. Colbert highlighted that late-night shows serve as an incubator for young professionals to learn and develop their skills.

Colbert expressed gratitude to the over 200 people who worked on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" over the past 11 years. According to Variety, Colbert spoke with CNN correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister and Variety co-president Ramin Setoodeh after the Emmy Awards. The show beat other nominees, including "The Daily Show", "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", "SNL", and "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver", as reported by Deadline.

Brief written by urgent.news from Variety, Forbes, NYT Arts, Deadline, TheWrap — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.