VALERIE MACON / AFP;Legacy
Stephen Colbert (left); Amy Cole
Stephen Colbert used his latest Emmys win to pay tribute to a longtime colleague.
While accepting the trophy for Outstanding Talk Series at the 2025 Emmy Awards for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the late night host acknowledged Amy Cole — a longtime colleague on his CBS show and projects before it, including Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report.
“I want to dedicate this to my mom and dad, her mom and dad and a young woman who should be here tonight, Amy Cole,” Colbert, 61, said during the ceremony.
VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty
Stephen Colbert accepts the Emmy for Outstanding Talk Series at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards
Cole, who was Colbert’s assistant for 16 years, died in March 2024 at the age of 53, following a brief illness, per Deadline.
Cole notably worked as executive assistant on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and her credits also include The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News and Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn.
Cole, who Deadline reported had cancer, was honored on The Late Show following her death, when a memorial card appeared on screen at the end of an episode, reading: “Dedicated to our dear friend Amy Cole, 1970-2024.”
She was later featured in an “In Memoriam” segment at the 76th Creative Arts Emmy Awards in 2024.
“Words cannot measure how big a loss Amy Cole is to this world,” Late Show director and producer Jake Plunkett wrote on X at the time. “F— cancer.”
An obituary for Cole noted that working with Colbert was “more than a job” to her. ”
It gave her a purpose and provided an opportunity to showcase herself as an incredible teammate to everyone involved.
She was adored by her entire Late Show work family, and she will be greatly missed.”
Elsewhere during his acceptance speech on Sunday, Colbert shared some words with his loved ones two months after it was announced The Late Show with Stephen Colbert would be ending after 10 seasons.
“Personally I want to thank my beautiful, brilliant wife Evelyn [McGee-Colbert] who’s the real brains of the outfit, and my three children — Madeline, Peter and John,” he continued.
Later he added, “Sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense that you might be losing it.
In September of 2025, my friends, I have never loved my country more desperately. God bless America.
Stay strong, be brave and if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor!”
The Daily Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live! were also up for the prize.
See PEOPLE’s full coverage of the 77th annual Primetime Emmy Awards as they’re broadcasting live on CBS and Paramount+ from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
News
A newly surfaced inventory from Jeffrey Epstein’s “secret” storage unit reads like a missing chapter—items reportedly removed ahead of a 2005 raid, then locked away outside official view. The most unsettling claim: authorities may never have searched it. One line in the file changes how everything else reads|KF
More disturbing details were coming to light about the secret storage lockers tied to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier once…
My parents didn’t leave an explanation—only a note: “Stay out of sight, freak.” I thought it was the usual cruelty, until a lawyer knocked with a folder and a deadline. One signature, one hidden clause, and I realized the insult wasn’t the point—it was the cover…(KF)
Sierra Merritt’s story begins on her 16th birthday, April 12th, in the quiet, hollow silence of her family’s Westport home….
THE EPSTEIN FILES OPEN AGAIN: 17 DIRTY EMAILS EXPOSED IN A MAJOR EPSTEIN DOCUMENT LEAK, FORCING THE PUBLIC TO CONFRONT QUESTIONS THAT HAVE NEVER BEEN ANSWERED|KF
The release of millions of pages of investigative material related to Jeffrey Epstein has reopened one of the darkest chapters…
WHAT POLICE FOUND BEHIND THE FOSTER HOME DOOR SHOCKED EVEN VETERAN OFFICERS: CHAINS, CONTROL, AND CHILDREN LIVING IN FEAR — ALL REVEALED BY A SINGLE BODYCAM RECORDING||case file (KF)
The New Mexico State Police arrived at the remote cabin just after nightfall. Dispatch radio traffic crackled as officers moved…
A horrifying case in abandoned mine shafts: a borrowed propane tank, a hidden rifle, tire tracks, and a homemade device later recovered—moves so calculated they left even investigators chilled, all tied to the Marine next door | case file (KF)
Aaron Corwin was born on July 15, 1994, in the United States to biological parents who were never publicly identified….
The troubling past of the #1 suspect in the Nancy Guthrie case: the “last person to see her” detail is pushing the investigation into a new direction as records, timing, and movements are re-examined. No public accusation—just mounting pressure, and a background that has investigators uneasy|KF
The investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today Show host Savannah Guthrie, has taken an…
End of content
No more pages to load
