Stephen Colbert is marking the end of an era with a T-shirt poking fun at his late-night departure
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During the Wednesday, March 18 episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the host unveiled merch featuring a nod to the show's cancellation
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will air its final episode on May 21
Stephen Colbert's new merch is a fashion statement.
On Wednesday, March 18, theLate Show with Stephen Colberthost announced he's selling "special T-shirts" to commemorate his final day on air in May — with all proceeds going toward an important cause.
Before he wraps his 11-year run asLate Showhost on May 21, he's offering the shirt to benefitWorld Central Kitchen, José Andrés' charity that provides fresh meals in the immediate aftermath of crises. And he's poking fun at how things went down in the process.
"On the front, they read: 'TheLastShow with Stephen Colbert,'" Colbert, 61, announced as he showed off the merchandise on air. "And on the back, it reads: 'Thanks for watching! (Unless you watched on YouTube, the network couldn't monetize that).'"
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"Go get these bad boys atColbertLateShow.com/ebay, and, again, all the money we make will go do José Andrés' World Central Kitchen," Colbert added.
As of Thursday, March 19, the shirts are sold out in sizes medium through 3XL but were still available in small and extra small. Over 3,400 shirts have sold since they were unveiled. After showing off the shirts during Wednesday's show, Colbert was joined by Andrés, 56, as the duo gave some to the audience in New York City and shot the merch out of T-shirt cannons.
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The T-shirts aren't the only thing theLate Showhost is selling off. During Wednesday's show, Colbert elaborated on his show's "home-shopping segment" in which he auctions off props from the past decade, which have raised over $406,000. They're still continuing to list memorabilia on eBay, with the show's latest additions including the tuxedo he wore to the 2017 Emmys and basketball shoes signed by John Lithgow.
"Folks, lately I've been thinking about trying to get rid of all the wonderful stuff we've accumulated here at the Ed Sullivan Theater over the last 11 years," Colbert said. "No particular reason, just spring cleaning."
During his July 17, 2025 episode, Colbert announced thatTheLate Showwould be coming to an end. The decision, CBS told PEOPLE in a statement at the time, was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night." Before the show's ending was announced, Colbertslammed CBS' parent company Paramount for giving Donald Trump $16 million in a settlement.
After a decade behind the legendaryLate Showdesk (he boarded as host in September 2015), Colbert said in January that the ending of the talk show "feels real now." TheLate Showfranchise has run since 1993 with David Letterman as host, before Colbert took over for him two decades later.
In the months since his show's cancellation news, Colbert has found himself at odds with Trump's FCC over its recent enforcement of an "equal time" rule (about late-night shows providing equal airtime for multiple candidates when interviewing political figures). He still shared an interview with Texas Senate candidateJames Talaricoin February to YouTube, after revealing he was given guidance from lawyers with his networking advising against airing it on TV.
"For the record, I'm not even mad," he said at the time following a CBS statement about the interview. "I really don't want an adversarial relationship with the network. I never had one."
The Late Show with Stephen Colbertairs weekdays on CBS at 11:35 p.m. ET.
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