Is this the end of (the character) ‘Stephen Colbert’?

The claim was surprising “because I never considered that guy much of an intellectual”, Colbert joked.

I put “Stephen Colbert” in quotes because it wasn’t the CBS late night talk show host we saw last week – it was the character from The Colbert Report that we’d all assumed had been retired as soon as Stephen left Comedy Central. Or at least not that Stephen Colbert, the hilarious conservative patriot of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report. Both CBS and Viacom are controlled by media mogul Sumner Redstone.

Representatives from CBS and Comedy Central declined comment on Thursday.

“What can I do?” He conceded defeat readily, but “with a heavy heart”. “I can not reasonably argue I own my face or name”, he said. Colbert-the Late Show host, not the identical twin cousin of that other Colbert-made it sound as if the new Stephen Colbert will continue to appear on the Late Show. In addition, Colbert’s segment “The Word” is now called “Werd”.

Behold the legal acrobatics in the clip above. Until 2005, when CBS split from Viacom, the two networks were corporate cousins.

During the show’s live coverage of the Republican National Convention, Colbert drew thunderous applause when he briefly resurrected “Stephen Colbert,” his old character from The Colbert Report. At the time, NBC’s president said Letterman could not take popular features like the Top 10 list and Stupid Pet Tricks with him because they were the “intellectual property” of NBC.

The Top 10 list remained a staple of Letterman’s show until he retired a year ago.

Colbert broke down the now-formally nominated presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, and why their respective approval ratings are so low.

He said there was another option for dissatisfied voters this fall: “Write in Michelle”.