Stephen Colbert's friends Jon Stewart, Fallon support him on 'Late Show'

Stephen Colbert has some choice words for President Donald Trump.

In his first show back on air since announcing that "The Late Show" will be canceled in May 2026, Colbert had a brief comeback ready for the president, who'd expressed in a July 18 Truth Social post that "I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings."

"How dare you, sir? Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism? Go (expletive) yourself," Colbert said in his July 21 "Late Show" monologue, per a clip shared on social media ahead of the episode's airing.

The three-word message was captured via an "eloquence cam" that was zoomed into the host's face.

As he waved off the crowd's chanting of his name, Colbert read the next sentence in Trump's social media post: "I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next."

Colbert replied, "Nope, absolutely not, Kimmel. I am the martyr. There's only room for one on this cross, and I've gotta tell you, the view is fantastic from up here. I can see your house!"

The rest of Trump's post had also called out Jimmy Fallon as the president wrote that Fox News' "Greg Gutfeld is better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show."

Lin-Manuel Miranda, 'Weird Al' Yankovic Coldplay kiss-cam canceled after showing Trump

Colbert introduced performers Lin-Manuel Miranda and "Weird Al" Yankovic to sing a song that would "cheer up" the audience. The duo jumped into the Coldplay song "Viva la Vida," as Miranda directed the show's camera operators to scan the audience – in a move mimicking the viral Jumbotron reveal of the embracing Astronomer couple at the July 18 Coldplay concert.

"The Late Show" Jumbotron "couples" on display July 21 featured CNN's Anderson Cooper and Bravo's Andy Cohen; fellow late night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers; "Happy Gilmore 2" stars Adam Sandler and Christopher McDonald as well as a middle-finger-waving John Oliver of HBO's "Last Week Tonight" with Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show."

The final couple was a cartoon Trump hugging a Paramount logo. Colbert then interrupted Yankovic and Miranda to tell them, "I just got this note from corporate. Your song has been canceled. It says here, 'This is a purely financial decision.'"

"Tell me this has nothing to do with who we just put a spotlight on," Miranda protested. But Colbert insisted, "This is out of my hands."

Why is 'The Late Show' ending?

In his previous "Late Night" episode, Colbert dropped the cancellation bombshell on his fans, saying, "It's not just the end of our show; it's the end of the 'Late Show' on CBS." He'd added, "I'm not being replaced. This is all just going away."

In an ensuing statement, Paramount Global executives said, "We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire 'The Late Show' franchise at that time." The Paramount statement called the move "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show's performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount."

Paramount's decision came days after Colbert slammed Paramount for settling President Donald Trump's defamation lawsuit, calling the $16 million donation to Trump's future presidential library "a big fat bribe" to his administration that could help earn FCC approval for the company's $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media.

Sandra Oh calls for 'plague' on CBS and Paramount houses

Colbert's first July 21 guest was actress Sandra Oh, who went Shakespearean nuclear in criticizing CBS and Paramount. Oh said she was "outraged" by the show's cancellation because of "what it means for where we are as a culture and what it means for free speech."

The "Grey's Anatomy" actress took Colbert's hand.

"I just want to say, 'Sorry,'" Oh said. "And to CBS and Paramount: A plague on both of your houses. And also a pox on all those that they serve."

Contributing: Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY