Stephen Colbert Cancels ‘Late Show’ For One Week Due to Ruptured Appendix

Following the Thanksgiving hiatus, one week of episodes of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” has been canceled unexpectedly as Colbert recovers from surgery following a ruptured appendix.

The news came via a post on the CBS show’s official Threads page on Monday. “Sorry to say that I have to cancel our shows this week,” the post reads. “I’m sure you’re thinking, ‘Turkey overdose, Steve? Gravy boat capsize?’ Actually, I’m recovering from surgery for a ruptured appendix. I’m grateful to my doctors for their care and to Evie and the kids for putting up with me. Going forward, all emails to my appendix will be handled by my pancreas.”

“The Late Show” has been no stranger to interruptions this year. Namely, it was off for five months during the Writers Guild of America Strike, which ended in late September. (During that time, Colbert along with late night hosts Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and John Oliver hosted a podcast and donated the proceeds to their out-of-work staffers.) The show returned in early October, but later that month, Colbert hosted one episode from his home after testing positive for COVID before the rest of the week’s shows were canceled.

Tuesday’s canceled show was set to feature Jennifer Garner and Baz Luhrmann as guests, with John Scofield sitting in with Louis Cato and the Late Show Band. On Wednesday, former “Late Show” band later John Batiste was set to perform, while Patrick Stewart was the featured guest. Barbra Streisand and Kelsey Grammer were the guests for Thursday’s show.