The Late Show took home its first-ever Emmy for Outstanding Talk Series at the 2025 ceremony on Sunday (September 14), and host Stephen Colbert didn’t miss the chance to take a jab at Donald Trump—pointing out that, unlike him, the former Apprentice host has still never won an Emmy.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome one and all. Welcome to The Late Show. I’m your host, Stephen Colbert,” he opened Tuesday’s (September 16) monologue before correcting himself. “I’m sorry. I meant to say welcome to the Emmy Award-winning Late Show.”
The late-night host then showed off the golden trophy while the studio audience rose to give him a standing ovation and chant his name.
“This award belongs to all 200 of the incredibly hardworking people who make this show,” Colbert said before thanking “the writers, stage crew, production staff, talent, segment, editors, the band, whole, field, control room, props, graphics, research, footage, digital, accounting, legal, wardrobe, makeup, security, maintenance, assistance, and interns.”
“And of course the audience department who let in all of you gorgeous people every night. You, the audience, you people out there, are ultimately the people who make this show possible. So this belongs to you too, but I’m gonna keep it.”
He then turned his attention to the President, quipping, “Speaking of Emmys, Donald Trump doesn’t have one.”
Trump has long railed against the Emmys, claiming the awards ceremony is “rigged” because The Apprentice, which he hosted from 2004 to 2016, never received a trophy.
The Apprentice was nominated for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program in 2004 and 2005 but lost to The Amazing Race both times. It lost again to The Amazing Race in 2006 when both were nominated in the Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming category.
According to The New York Times, Trump said in a 2011 YouTube video that the Emmys were “a con game” and “irrelevant,” ranting, “Certain shows — and I can name them and maybe at some point I will — just don’t get the acclaim that they should and other shows year after year after year keep being nominated and whether people watch them or not they shouldn’t be nominated and everyone knows it.”
The Late Show‘s Emmy victory comes after CBS canceled the show back in July, with its final episode set to air in May 2026. At the time, Trump took to social media to celebrate the cancelation, writing, “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!”
Colbert’s gloating over his Emmy win in light of Trump’s lack of Emmys is perhaps not surprising!
You can watch Colbert’s full opening monologue in the video above and let us know your thoughts below.
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Weeknights, 11:35/10:35c, CBS
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