Obama Opens Stephen Colbert’s Live ‘Late Show’ After Super Bowl
UPDATED with video: Hours after playing softball question toss with CBS This Morning’s Gayle King during pre-Super Bowl programming, Obama played long-distance football toss with CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert immediately after the game.
“I’m honored to follow the Super Bowl,” Stephen Colbert said tonight, opening The Late Show and becoming the first live late-night broadcast to get the plum post-Super Bowl timeslot. “Because we’re broadcasting live tonight, I can do anything and CBS has a team of lawyers standing by to make sure that I don’t,” he joked, putting a football in front of his hand as he gestured what might have been a bird-flip.
Ticking off the names of tonight’s guests – Will Ferrell, Tina Fey and Margot Robbie, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, and “Donald Trump’s Kryptonite Megyn Kelly” – Colbert began playing a very long-distance game of football catch, first tossing the pigskin to soldiers in Afghanistan, who’d seen the game, then to astronaut Scott Kelly at the International Space Station, who said the view was great from his sky box. Chewbacca intercepted the return pass, but shot it back to Colbert, who made his final toss to “the tall guy with the really big ears,” aka President Obama in the White House.
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Obama promised Colbert he’d watched the game and phone the winning team. He admitted to betting on the Super Bowl, which Colbert noted is illegal. “I”m President. I’ll pardon myself,” POTUS snarked.
Asked what he thought was the best play of the game, Obama vamped that it was when a player sealed the deal with that really good touchdown play, which Colbert noted sounded suspiciously vague.
“This is not live,” Obama confessed. “We shot it last week.” Live Colbert demanded proof. So Obama brought out pre-taped Colbert to stand by him.
‘You don’t even know who won the game, sir,” chastised Live Colbert.
“Of course I do. It was the Denver Broncos,” Obama shot back.
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Asked how he pulled that off – a week ago – Obama replied, “Stephen. I’m the President.” And, all the Super Bowl winners names for years to come are written on the back of the Declaration of Independence, he revealed. Along with the script for National Treasure 3.
What with National Treasure EP Charles Segars being part of Obama’s team, as an Associate White House Advance Lead, this naturally led to speculation he was behind the gag. “No comment,” Segars told Deadline; an insider said Segars was not involved in coming up with the gag.
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