How the SC state Senate and its reading clerk got a Stephen Colbert shout out
Stephen Colbert, the South Carolina native who has a little more than a month remaining as host of the Late Show on CBS, gave the state Senate and its reading clerk a shoutout on his show Monday.
In the second segment of the episode, Colbert thanked the upper chamber for the resolution it passed honoring him as his show comes to an end after it was canceled by CBS.
Colbert, who is a South Carolina native, had a laugh as the show played a clip of Senate Reading Clerk John Wienges reading a summary of the resolution in the chamber March 25.
“You can tell that man is from South Carolina because he sounds like he was reading that resolution with a mouth full of shrimp and grits,” Colbert said.
Colbert’s show was canceled as CBS parent company Paramount was completing a merger with Skydance, which needed FCC approval. Colbert has often used his wit to be critical of President Donald Trump and his administration. CBS said the cancellation was a business decision as the show loses millions of dollars a year.
“I’m very grateful, and I just want to say, ‘What?’ ” Colbert said of the resolution, adding the Palmetto State is reliably red. “This is like if Donald Trump threw me a surprise going away party, which he kind of did.”
The resolution was offered by state Sen. Ed Sutton, D-Charleston, among others, and it was approved March 25.
“Mr. Colbert uses humor to highlight hypocrisy, absurdity and leave people laughing all the way back to their house. But, I wanted to just take this opportunity to say thank you for the laughs,” Sutton said on the Senate floor. “Thank you for the perspective. Thank you for proving that being smart and being funny are not opposites.”
On Monday’s show Colbert ended his commentary by showing his gratefulness to the state Senate.
“It’s an honor that I did not expect, but I take it as a sincere compliment and a bit of good news, because a lot of folks have been asking what I’m doing after May 21. Well, for the first time in a long time, I can safely say I think I’m going home,” Colbert said closing the bit.
This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 9:28 AM with the headline "How the SC state Senate and its reading clerk got a Stephen Colbert shout out."
