What happened to Stephen Colbert’s dad? Anderson Cooper recalls conversation about grief with ‘The Late Show’ host amid cancellation

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will stop airing on CBS after May 2026, the network announced on Thursday night. During his segment, Colbert, 61, shared the news himself, adding that he had been informed “just last night.”

The comedian and talk show host explained that the network is not replacing him but is instead ending the Late Show franchise entirely, following a 33-year run. Notably, he has been hosting it since September 2015, after taking over from David Letterman.

In the wake of the announcement, journalist and political commentator Anderson Cooper shared his thoughts on his CNN program, Anderson Cooper 360°. He began by saying that he has had the “honor and pleasure” of being a guest on Stephen Colbert’s show on multiple occasions.

Cooper also revealed that he discussed grief and loss with Colbert a few weeks after his own mother died in 2019. This was not part of The Late Show but an interview he did with Stephen for his 60 Minutes segment. At that time, the former The Daily Show host opened up about losing his father and two brothers when he was ten years old.

For those who are unaware, in 1974, Stephen Colbert’s father, James William Colbert Jr., and brothers Peter and Paul died in a plane crash.

Elsewhere, Cooper continued by saying he was “shocked and sad” to learn that The Late Show franchise on CBS was ending, and described Stephen Colbert as an “incredibly decent human being.”

“Stephen Colbert is smart, he is funny, and he has actual conversations with people on his program… The thing that so many of us love about Stephen Colbert is that he is at heart an incredibly decent human being with an amazing wife, family, and strong faith,” Anderson stated.

Cooper shared the clip of his 2019 interview with Colbert on Thursday night while covering the cancellation announcement of The Late Show franchise.

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All you need to know about the deaths of Stephen Colbert’s father and brothers

On September 11, 1974, Stephen Colbert’s father and two brothers—who were closest in age to him—were traveling on a small DC-9 plane operated by Eastern Air Lines Flight 212, from Charleston, South Carolina, to Charlotte, North Carolina.

According to biography.com, the flight crashed while landing at Douglas Municipal Airport, just three miles from the runway. Of the 82 people onboard, 72, including James, Paul, and Peter, lost their lives in the accident.

The pilots reportedly lost track of the altitude while landing in a hilly area on what was described as a foggy morning, as later revealed by the investigation.

The tragedy deeply affected Stephen Colbert, who, for years, refused to talk about the loss until his 60 Minutes interview with Anderson Cooper in 2019. At the time, he shared:

“There’s this big break in the cable of my memory at their death. Everything before that has got an odd, ghostly tone. I was personally shattered, and then you reform yourself in this quiet, grieving world that was created in the house.

“My mother had me to take care of, which I think was sort of a gift for her, a sense of purpose at that point. But I also had her to take care of. It became a very quiet house, very dark, and ordinary concerns of childhood kind of disappeared.”

Stephen Colbert also told Anderson Cooper that people gain “awareness of other people’s loss” from their own experiences, which allows them to “connect with that other person,” leading to deeper love and a better understanding of “what it’s like to be a human being” and accepting that “all humans suffer.”

The Colbert Report host concluded by saying that “It’s a gift to exist, and with existence comes suffering. There’s no escaping that.” He also mentioned,

“I don’t want it to have happened. I want it not to have happened.”

However, he was “grateful” for his life and chose to stay “positive” about everything. Previously, in a 2015 interview with GQ, he briefly and indirectly opened up about grief and loss, recalling that the tragedy left his mother “broken,” but she was never “bitter.”

“You gotta learn to love the bomb. Boy, did I have a bomb when I was 10. That was quite an explosion. And I learned to love it. So that's why. Maybe, I don't know. That might be why you don't see me as someone angry and working out my demons onstage. It's that I love the thing that I most wish had not happened,” Stephen added.

In 2012, the comedian-writer told Oprah Winfrey that he “didn’t really feel the loss” until he was “in college,” by which time he was in “bad shape” and “just so sad about it.”

Notably, Stephen was the youngest child of James William Colbert Jr. and his wife, Elizabeth. His other surviving siblings include James III, Edward, Mary, William, Margo, Thomas, Jay, and Elizabeth.

Born in Washington, D.C. in May 1964, Stephen Colbert spent his early years in Maryland, before moving to Charleston. His father was an immunologist and academic who worked at the Medical University of South Carolina.

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On Thursday night, Stephen Colbert expressed being “grateful” for his time at The Late Show and called CBS his “home,” describing the 200-member crew as “great partners.” He also gave a shoutout to his audience, both live in the studio and watching on TV worldwide.

“Let me tell you, it is a fantastic job. I wish someone else were getting it. And it is a job I am looking forward to doing with this usual gang of idiots for another 10 months. It’s gonna be fun. You all ready?” Colbert shared.

Meanwhile, executives from CBS and its parent company, Paramount Global, announced that the cancellation was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night,” and was not in any way related to “the show’s performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount.”

They also called Colbert “irreplaceable” and added that the show and its host will be “remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late-night television.”