Oprah Winfrey Crashes Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ Monologue
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Stephen Colbert’s usual monologue had a surprise guest on Thursday’s episode, with Oprah Winfrey dropping by for a visit. Despite her radiant, all-purple suit, Winfrey insisted she was not there to promote her upcoming film, The Color Purple.
As Colbert wrapped his monologue, he said this time of the year is “exciting” as “all the big prestige movies are coming out in time to qualify for the awards, and one I’m very excited about is the new adaptation of The Color Purple.”
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“I’m not the only one,” he continued, before name dropping his “dear, dear friend Oprah Winfrey” who “has been everywhere promoting this movie recently.” Colbert added, “She’s been making purple cocktails, she’s been unveiling a purple portrait in Washington D.C, turning the Empire State Building purple, handing out tons of purple movie tickets, and on the streets of New York, she’s even been handing out purple nurple.”
And with that, the former talk show host and media legend herself glided onto the stage. After audience chants of “Oprah! Oprah!” died down, Winfrey claimed, “Stephen, I’m not here to promote The Color Purple, which is opening Christmas Day… I just wanted to be here to welcome you back from your surgery!”
Despite Colbert pointing out that Monday was in fact, his first day, Winfrey brushed aside his comment and quipped that “Thursday worked better for me.” As a get well present, she handed him a box with a purple bow before revealing that she had gotten everyone in the audience a ticket to her film.
Not being able to help himself, Colbert catapulted boxes into the crowd and yelled, “You get a ticket! And you get a ticket! And you get a ticket!”
Winfrey, who starred as Sofia in the 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel of the same name, produced the 2023 edition alongside Steven Spielberg, Quincy Jones, and Scott Sanders.
The Color Purple will arrive in theaters on Dec. 25 in a musical film iteration directed by Blitz Bazawule from a screenplay by Marcus Gardley, with Halle Bailey and Fantasia Barrino leading as sisters Nettie and Celie Harris.
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