Colbert late show first week elon musk travis kalanick – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Elon Musk and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick will be guests on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show

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Jacob Kastrenakes
is The Verge’s executive editor. He has covered tech, policy, and online creators for over a decade.

Stephen Colbert’s first two Late Show guests will be George Clooney and Jeb Bush — exactly the kind of guests you would expect: very famous, very topical, and practiced on the talk show circuit. But Colbert’s Late Show takes a turn starting the night after. He’s inviting on SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk for its second night, followed by Uber CEO Travis Kalanick for its third. Both make for very interesting additions to Colbert’s first week. It’s probably too soon to make anything out of it, but their early appearance certainly gives the impression that Colbert may use his show to bring on tech and business figures with some frequency, rather than focusing on the entertainment world.

Talk show hosts generally keep conversations with their guests as friendly as possible — they’re holding conversations more than interviews — but with Colbert coming from a politically oriented background, it’ll be interesting to see if he brings a more critical voice to discussions with candidates and controversial figures. Of course, he’ll have plenty of more expected guests, too. Other first week appearances include Scarlett Johansson, Amy Schumer, Stephen King, and Kendrick Lamar, who will also be performing. Colbert’s Late Show debuts Tuesday, September 8th — exactly two weeks from tomorrow.

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