Stephen Colbert Finds Out He No Longer Has The Rights To Use ‘Stephen Colbert’

Stephen Colbert returned to the well for a night during the RNC, bringing his Colbert Report character back from the dead to host “The Word” on The Late Show. As it turns out, lawyers from another company — we can only assume the fine folks at his former network — were not happy about the appearance and Colbert officially had to do the only thing he could. He had to kill “Stephen Colbert.”

Well not really kill, but remove him from television forever. A sad moment, but one that Colbert had a plan for it seems. Not only did he get “Stephen Colbert’s” identical cousin with the same name to show up for an interview, but he also managed to borrow one of that other guy’s original bits.

Enter “The Werd,” a look at the lesser of two evils that is in the same vein as his original Colbert Report bit, but just a little different. And hopefully different enough to keep those lawyers away.

It’s odd to find out that another company owns the rights to the dumber, more conservative version of yourself. Luckily, Colbert seems ready to take on any hurdles in order to keep a bit of control over his likeness. Plus it’s funny when late night hosts get a little rebellious.

(Via The Late Show)

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