“He laughed at her like it was a joke—but no one else was laughing.” Stephen Colbert hit with BRUTAL backlash after taking cheap shot at Megyn Kelly just days after The Late Show’s cancelation – fans call it a pathetic last stand from a fading star

Stephen Colbert’s empire is crumbling—but instead of going quietly, he threw a jab that may have cost him whatever goodwill he had left. Days after news broke that The Late Show would end in 2026, Colbert mocked Megyn Kelly in what some are calling a desperate deflection. Viewers didn’t hold back. “Arrogant,” “spiteful,” and “tone-deaf” were just a few of the words flooding social media. For many, it wasn’t just bad timing—it was personal. Is Colbert showing his true colors now that the cameras are about to shut off?

Catch the moment that has everyone turning their backs on late-night’s former king.

In what should have been a sobering moment of reflection and grace, Stephen Colbert instead sparked a firestorm of controversy after mocking Megyn Kelly just days after the confirmed cancellation of The Late Show. The fallout has been swift, loud, and deeply personal.

Colbert, once hailed as the sharpest wit in late-night television, now finds himself at the center of an escalating media feud that many say he ignited himself—at precisely the wrong moment. The news that The Late Show will come to an end in 2026 had barely settled before Colbert took to the air and ridiculed Megyn Kelly, accusing her of “dancing on graves.” But instead of rallying sympathy, Colbert’s jab drew an explosive backlash from critics and fans alike—many of whom accuse him of arrogance, bitterness, and “punching down in disgrace.”

For a man who built his legacy on punching up, the move struck a sour chord.

Megyn slammed Colbert after the cancelation of The Late Show(Image: Getty Images)

A Moment of Failure Turned Into A Spectacle

Colbert’s show, once the crown jewel of CBS’s late-night programming, held the top spot in its time slot for years. But changing viewer habits, political fatigue, and a shifting entertainment landscape finally caught up with The Late Show. Its cancellation after more than a decade on the air was not entirely unexpected—but it was certainly the end of an era.

Rather than take a moment of quiet dignity, Colbert lashed out. And many say that’s where he made his most fatal mistake.

Megyn Kelly, never one to hold back, reacted first—publicly and without restraint.

“He desperately wanted to be Keith Olbermann,” Kelly said on her Friday broadcast. “And guess what? Keith Olbermann is a failure, and now so are you, Stephen Colbert.”

It was a sharp-tongued jab from a media veteran with her own long, complicated history in broadcast news. Kelly herself had once walked through the fire of controversy—most notably after her fall from NBC following her defense of blackface Halloween costumes. But it was Colbert’s response to her criticism that truly shocked viewers.

Instead of defusing the tension, he poured gasoline on it.

Fans Turn On Colbert

The backlash was immediate. Comments flooded social media, many condemning Colbert for what they saw as a bitter, insecure lashing out—one that revealed more about his ego than Kelly’s criticism.

One furious viewer wrote, “If this is how Colbert handles failure, maybe it was time to cancel him too. He used to be smart. Now he just sounds like a sore loser.”

Another posted, “Colbert’s show was canceled and instead of showing class, he mocked someone else’s career. That’s not comedy—that’s desperation.”

Even longtime supporters of Colbert expressed disappointment.

“I admired him for years,” a fan commented on a viral clip of his remark. “But this? This is beneath him. I don’t care how much you dislike Megyn Kelly—this is punching down, and it’s pathetic.”

Some began to ask a harsher question: Had Colbert been given a free pass for too long?

Kelly’s Career Is No Shining Example Either—But Viewers Aren’t Letting Colbert Off the Hook

While Colbert faced mounting criticism, Megyn Kelly wasn’t spared from scrutiny either.

Social media users were quick to remind her of her own high-profile failures. After signing a massive $69 million deal with NBC following her departure from Fox News, Kelly’s Today show experiment flamed out in just over a year. The blackface controversy proved to be the final nail in the coffin. Despite a full payout from NBC, the network’s ratings jumped by 18% after her exit—an embarrassment she’s never quite shaken off.

One follower posted bluntly: “Let me get this right. Colbert had a successful 10-year run. Kelly didn’t even last two years at NBC and got paid to leave. Maybe she’s not the one to be talking about failure.”

Another called it “one of the most amazing acts of memory-holing in media history” for Kelly to position herself as the voice of reason in this feud.

Still, the tide of online criticism remained largely focused on Colbert—not because Kelly was right, but because of how wrong his reaction seemed.

“If Megyn Kelly is a failure, then let her fail in silence,” one user tweeted. “Why would Colbert lower himself to her level? Unless… he already did.”

A Battle of Egos or a Public Meltdown?

Observers say the debacle reveals a deeper, more troubling truth about how high-profile media figures handle personal loss. Colbert’s decision to target Kelly so publicly, so soon after his own show’s demise, reads to many like an uncontrolled ego spiraling under pressure.

“This was his moment to be the bigger man,” a media analyst said. “Instead, he chose bitterness. And now he’s lost the goodwill that could’ve cushioned his exit.”

Even as both camps fire back and forth—Kelly on her podcast, Colbert in his monologue—the spectacle has drawn increasing exhaustion from viewers who once looked to late-night television for escape, not personal vendettas.

“This isn’t commentary anymore,” one critic wrote. “It’s self-destruction on live TV.”

The Legacy Question—Is This How It Ends?

More than just a war of words, the incident has now become a defining moment for Stephen Colbert. After a decade of success, he’s not remembered this week for his wit or his ratings—but for the bitterness of his departure.

“He had the opportunity to go out with class,” one longtime viewer wrote. “Instead, he left like a man who couldn’t take the heat—and chose to throw stones on his way out.”

Others echoed the same sentiment: The Late Show’s cancellation may have been planned, but this reaction made it feel earned.

And now, for the first time in years, Stephen Colbert—the man who once skewered power with a wink and a smile—has become the story himself.

Whether his legacy survives this final act will depend on whether he chooses humility… or doubles down on bitterness again.