Stephen Colbert dedicated a few moments of The Late Show to saying goodbye to Bill O’Reilly after the Fox News host was ousted from the network. As most know, Colbert’s alter ego on his show The Colbert Report was loosely based on O’Reilly, and it’s been a staple on Colbert’s late-night talk show. With Fox parting ways with O’Reilly, Colbert decided to send his condolences.
“Over the years, I have talked one or two times about Fox News host, and bold fresh piece of humanity, Bill O’Reilly,” Colbert said Wednesday. “Like him or not, a lot of people watched him. He had the No. 1 cable news show for 15 years, until today.
“It’s like looking at your front yard and the big oak tree is just gone,” Colbert said. “I’m sure the oak tree said some disturbing things about young black men with their rap music and their neck tattoos, but damn it, the tree had been there forever. And your grandpa liked to just sit there and stare at it, and then the tree would sell your grandpa gold coins and self-lubricating catheters.”
Not only did Colbert say his goodbyes, but so did his alter ego, “Stephen Colbert”:
“Hello, Nation, and shame on you. You failed him. You failed Bill O’Reilly. All he ever did was have your back, and if you’re a woman, you know, have a go at the front, too.
“And what? Suddenly sexual harassment’s a crime? Well, that’s the country we live in now, Obama’s Trump’s America.”
And as a final farewell, he had this to say:
“Stay strong, Papa Bear.”