A brief history of late-night hosts apologizing

LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 06: Stephen Colbert attends the Showtime Golden Globe Nominees Celebration at Sunset Tower on January 6, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tara Ziemba/Getty Images)

Stephan Colbert’s rated-R insult

Sam Bee isn’t the only Daily Show alum to put a dollar in the swear jar.

When President Trump walked out of an interview with CBS anchor John Dickerson, Colbert had a few choice words for the temperamental president for slighting his friend. But one of them was a little too colorful, to put it mildly. The South Carolina native topped off his slew of insults with this: “In fact, the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s [expletive] holster,” he told a delighted audience. #FireColbert was trending shortly thereafter.

Was it right for Trump to walk out on a respectful interviewer for simply doing his job? Nope. Did Colbert and co. deliberately push the envelope for an easy blow to Trump’s ego and the glee of anti-Trumpers, knowing there would be consequences? Likely.

But when the potential leader of the free world jokes about sexually harassing women with the most vulgar words possible, it’s a little hypocritical to call out a comedian for doing the same. Perhaps that’s why Colbert’s “apology” was peak sorry/not sorry. “I would change a few words that were cruder than they needed to be,” he said. But it was still a fair fight, he claimed. “I believe he can take care of himself. I have jokes; he has the launch codes.”