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Stephen Colbert Transfers Super PAC Power To Jon Stewart As He Considers Presidential Run

Posted 1/13/12 12:03 pm EST by in Politics, Stephen Colbert


Stephen Colbert

By Zachary Swickey

Our favorite political pot-stirrer Stephen Colbert is causing a joyous ruckus once again. After polling in South Carolina, his home state, at five percent, Colbert has passed his Super PAC to his old chum Jon Stewart and is planning on forming an exploratory committee for a possible presidential run (we’re surprised Kanye isn’t doing the same with his “DONDA” project).

For months now, Colbert has been comically mocking the South Carolina Republicans and their presidential primary, and it appears he’s diving into the race headfirst. A new poll has revealed Colbert is even favored ahead of Jon Huntsman in South Carolina.

Additionally, the Palmetto Public Record reveals that Colbert’s Super PAC – Americans For A Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow – is in negotiations with buying some media in the Columbia market. Airtime is pricey during the primary season, so Colbert surely has a solid ace up his sleeve.

However, in order to run, Colbert must give up his beloved Super PAC. We all know how good politicians are at finding loopholes and ways around things, so Colbert found one himself by transferring control of the PAC to Mr. Stewart in order to proceed. Watch, after the jump! Read More...

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Jack White And The Black Belles Lend Stephen Colbert A Hand On ‘Charlene II (I'm Over You)’

Posted 6/24/11 11:30 am EST by in comedy, Stephen Colbert


Stephen Colbert

In 2006, Stephen Colbert introduced fans of The Colbert Report to Stephen and the Colberts, his 1980s new wave band, and their hit single "Charlene (I'm Right Behind You).”

Now he’s back with a follow-up, “Charlene II (I'm Over You).” “Charlene II” is a rock jam backed by the Black Belles, and features the Grammy winner (seriously, Colbert took home the Best Comedy Album prize in 2010 for A Colbert Christmas) singing about how over the titular Charlene he really is – though his email address is still Stephen@CharleneForever.com if she happens to still have feelings for him.

Check it out below, and if you happen to be in New York City today, look out for the comedian, who is scheduled to appear all around Manhattan with Jack White selling copies of the song from White’s "rolling record store,” which goes all over the country selling music from Third Man Records (White’s label). Colbert is also making “Charlene II” available through iTunes, vinyl and the Third Man Records’ website.

Read More...

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LCD Soundsystem Bid Farewell To Television On 'The Colbert Report'

Posted 2/15/11 10:00 am EST by in Music


When James Murphy announced that he would be hanging up the performing and recording spurs as LCD Soundsystem, it sent a ripple of sadness and disappointment through his community of fans who have danced and banged along with Murphy since the group's inception back in the early part of the 21st century. But at least Murphy is making the most of his farewell, as he already has already scheduled a massive goodbye show at New York's Madison Square Garden (which sold out so quickly — mainly due to virtual gate-crashing by scalpers — that Murphy had to add a series of other shows at New York's Terminal 5), and on Monday night (February 14), he made what was billed as his final appearance on television as a guest on "The Colbert Report."

The host seemed vaguely incensed that Murphy, 41, was walking away from the rock and roll lifestyle. "Why walk away from the rock world?" Colbert asked. "Retirees get very few honey-dipped coeds waiting in the wings for them."

"It seemed like the right thing to do. I'm 41, and I think at some point it gets embarrassing," Murphy explained. "Because it started later, I had a life beforehand, and there's a lot of things I want to do. I have a label I run. I like to produce."

Colbert was tickled by the idea of Murphy as "the man." "You're going to say to young rockers, 'You know what? I don't hear a single. Let's put a reggaeton beat on that and add some Auto-Tune. We'll get Shaggy to sing with you.' That's going to be you now." Colbert also explained that Murphy was going about his exit all wrong. "There are only three ways to end your career if you're a rocker: Overdose, overstay your welcome, or write 'Spider-Man: The Musical,'" he joked.

"I don't want to do any of those three," Murphy deadpanned.

Following the interview, Murphy delivered an impassioned live version of "I Can Change," one of the key songs from LCD Soundsystem's much-loved 2010 album This Is Happening. If this is it, then he certainly is walking out on top.

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'Rally To Restore Sanity': All Hail MVP Ozzy Osbourne

Posted 11/1/10 9:00 am EST by in Music


The 2010 festival season was one of the quieter in recent memory, which is one of the reason Saturday afternoon's (October 30) "Rally to Restore Sanity" in Washington, D.C. was able to turn itself from a farcical three hour political gathering into one of the bigger musical events of the year. In addition to the great comedy bits care of hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, there were also top-shelf performances from the likes of the Roots (who served as the house band), Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock, John Legend and Mavis Staples (the latter with an assist from Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy).

(Click here for more photos from the "Rally to Restore Sanity," including Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow and the Roots!)

But the clear highlight of the afternoon was an elaborately choreographed sequence that featured a handful of musical legends all working toward a single payoff. At one point, Stewart welcomed Yusuf Islam (the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens) to the stage to perform his classic hit "Peace Train." But a few moments into the tune, Colbert interrupted and said he was uninterested in getting aboard any kind of "peace train" and that he preferred a different kind of train — a crazy train. With that, Ozzy Osbourne took the stage and busted into his definitive solo hit.

(Click here for more photos from the "Rally to Restore Sanity," including Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow and the Roots!)

Not wanted to be outdone, Stewart returned to cut off Osbourne and let Islam resume his low-key protest anthem. They went back and forth like that for a few minutes until both Stewart and Colbert decided that there was one train that they could both agree on, and that was a "Love Train." Luckily, the O'Jays happened to be present as well, and they broke into "Love Train" for a segment topper that was both hilarious and musically satisfying.

(Click here for more photos from the "Rally to Restore Sanity," including Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow and the Roots!)

What's more impressive? Just after he performed in Washington, D.C., Osbourne hopped on a plane and headed south to New Orleans, where he played a late set at the 2010 Voodoo Experience. Not a bad day's work for the metal legend — not bad at all.

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The Hold Steady Visit 'The Colbert Report,' Talk Catholicism, Rock 'Hurricane J'

Posted 5/14/10 9:30 am EST by in Music


Thursday (May 13) was a great day for birthdays, as "Twilight" vampire Robert Pattinson and former Hootie & the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker both celebrated becoming one year older. The same went for former basketball star Dennis "The Worm" Rodman and late night host Stephen Colbert, who celebrated his 46th birthday by inviting the Hold Steady to play on his show "The Colbert Report."

Following riffs on new Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan and the ongoing psychosis of Glenn Beck, Colbert sat down with Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn and guitarist Tad Kubler (the same pair who chatted with MTV News two weeks ago). The main point of discussion was the title of the band's new album Heaven Is Whenever, which got into a surprisingly legitimate debate about the concept of the afterlife and Finn's lapsed Catholicism. "I still go to church," he told Colbert. "But I don't think the Pope would agree with my concept of Catholicism."

"Well, then there's the door my friend," Colbert joked in response. "It's either Yahweh or the highway."

The pair also joked about their look. "Are you sure you're in a rock band and not graphic designers?" Colbert asked (an ironic question, considering that Kubler handles a lot of the art direction for the band). Following the interview, the rest of the group joined Kubler and Finn for a run through "Hurricane J," the band's powerful, heavy first single from Heaven Is Whenever.


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Shaun White And Ricky Gervais Headline The 'Late Night Lineup'

Posted 2/22/10 10:00 am EST by in Music, Television


It's a quiet week on the late night front, which is probably good considering the potential fireworks coming next week. Next Monday, Jay Leno returns to host "The Tonight Show," where he will undoubtedly reignite his long-standing ratings war with David Letterman (who is the current ratings champion at 11:35, albeit without any competition at the moment).

In fact, it appears as though everybody is girding themselves for next week's rebirth of late night, as not only are the NBC shows pre-empted by coverage of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, but Letterman has also taken the week off. Still, that doesn't mean that you won't find fresh takes on the talk show circuit. Craig Ferguson will chat with Quentin Tarantino on Friday (February 26), which should be a wildly entertaining conversation between two hilarious lunatics. Over on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," British upstart VV Brown will perform on Wednesday night (February 24) and "American Idol" judge Kara DioGuardi stops by on Friday.

But for the real good action, you have to turn to cable this week. Chelsea Handler will welcome Danica Patrick to "Chelsea Lately" on Tuesday (February 23), while "The Crazies" star Radha Mitchell will sit on her couch on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Comedy Central may have the best hour in late night this week: Not only is "The Daily Show" back with new episodes (with Ricky Gervais on Monday and Tracy Morgan on Wednesday) but "The Colbert Report" will be doing special Olympic shows from Vancouver. Colbert has already been heavily involved in the Olympics, and he's responsible for the best image of the games so far.

If you're a morning person, Tuesday's edition of "The View" is a can't-miss, as not only will the ladies welcome the aforementioned Gervais but also the cast of MTV's "Jersey Shore." Over on "Live with Regis and Kelly," they'll have Olympic gold medal snowboarder Shaun White on Monday (February 22) and "Cop Out" star Bruce Willis on Thursday (February 25). Finally, Ellen DeGeneres welcomes "American Idol" co-star Randy Jackson on Monday, "American Idol" castoff Shelby Dressel on Tuesday and "Shutter Island" star Leonardo DiCaprio on Friday.

What shows are you most looking forward to this week? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

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Stephen Colbert Makes A Bid To Replace Jay-Z: The MTV News Quote Of The Day

Posted 12/16/09 4:37 pm EST by in Music, Television


"Shoppin' mall is close, my community is gated/ My shorties are all private-school educated/ Home theater system, 60-inch plasma/ Clean suburban air, much better for my asthma/ Still hit the city, Times Square, keep it real/ Hard Rock Cafe for the appetizer deal/ M&M Store, Disney Store, I'm in heaven/ I own this town from 41st to 47/ Take you to 'The Lion King,' that show is fantastic/ Leave half an hour early so I can beat the traffic/ I can get home really fast, driver rocks an E-Z Pass/ Land of cheaper gas and the upper middle class."

-Late night comedy show host Stephen Colbert, making a guest appearance as a rapper during Alicia Keys' performance of "Empire State of Mind (Part II)" on Tuesday (December 15) night's episode of "The Colbert Report." The singer dropped by the show to talk about her just-released album The Element of Freedom (currently the top-selling full-length on iTunes) and chat with Colbert about the significance of both "Empire State of Mind" tracks. "I only have one beef with [the original]: There's not enough about the suburbs in it," Colbert told Keys in an interview prior to the performance. "It's mostly about the city itself. What about the bridge and tunnel crowd, don't they get a shout-out?" Colbert is really ending 2009 on a whole series of high notes, as he chatted with Snoop Dogg on Monday night and is currently on the cover of Sports Illustrated (for his support of the United States Olympic Speedskating team).

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Kanye West Still Hasn't Addressed His Death Rumor, But He Should Go On 'The Colbert Report'

Posted 10/22/09 12:34 pm EST by in Music, Television


Yesterday, the Internet exploded with the rumor that Kanye West had died (possibly in a car accident). Of course, this is not the case — it turns out West was the latest victim of a death rumor on the Internet. The rumor was immediately refuted by West's girlfriend Amber Rose via Twitter. "This 'RIP Kanye West' topic is not funny and it's not true!" she wrote. "It's in extreme poor taste to have that as a trendy topic. It's totally disrespectful to make up a story like this we're all human ... and we all make mistakes and to say someone died cuz of a mistake is ridiculous. You wouldn't want someone to say that about you."

But West himself hasn't responded to the rumor himself. Though he has updated his blog several times, he has not mentioned it there. And his spokesperson hasn't made a statement either. Though it hardly seems like this is the sort of thing West has to respond to, a number of other celebrities have had a bit of fun with the false rumors that they had passed away. Case in point: When Jeff Goldblum was rumored to have died in some sort of accident in New Zealand (a rumor that broke the same day that Michael Jackson died), he went on "The Colbert Report" to report on the fact that he had not, in fact, passed on.


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It was a hilarious bit that Kanye could easily latch onto. He even has a standing history with the Comedy Central host, as they have kept up a tongue-in-cheek feud since he challenged Kanye West to an iTunes sales duel last year. (Check out the complete history here.)

Kanye hasn't been seen much since the Video Music Awards, but why not make a comeback on one of the most-watched shows in late night?

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The Flaming Lips Rap About Oklahoma Sadness, Play New Song On 'Colbert'

Posted 9/17/09 10:30 am EST by in Music, Television


A few months ago, the Flaming Lips got perhaps the biggest honor of their long and tripped out career when "Do You Realize??" was named the official rock song of the state of Oklahoma. The band visited "The Colbert Report" last night to play "Convinced of the Hex," the first single from their forthcoming album Embryonic, but first host Stephen Colbert sat down to chat with Lips frontman and mastermind Wayne Coyne about the strange honor.

"The song has these lyrics: 'Do you realize that happiness makes you cry? Do you realize that everyone you know some day will die?' How bad are things in Oklahoma?" the host asked. "That's a far cry from 'The corn is as high as an elephant's eye.'" But in his typical positive fashion, Coyne explained the the song — which was a hit single from the band's 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots — explained that the tune is meant to remind everybody that life is fleeting and that love is all that matters. "When you read it on a page like that, it sounds kind of bleak," Coyne said. "I think the song is uplifting, because the worse regret people have is that someone they know dies and they never got the chance to say how much they loved them. I'm here to say life is short and precious." Colbert responded, "That might be a nice motto to go on a license plate." Want to get an early listen of Embryonic? It's streaming in its entirety at the Colbert Nation Web site.


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Stephen Colbert Skewers Black Eyed Peas, Renames Jeremih's 'Birthday Sex'

Posted 8/3/09 10:55 am EST by in Music, Television


Just as we are doing in the MTV Newsroom, "The Colbert Report" host Stephen Colbert is searching for this summer's official jam. He tackled this important issue on his show in a segment he called "MeTunes." During the piece, he look at two of the season's biggest hits: Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" and Jeremih's "Birthday Sex."

Unfortunately, he didn't find anything he liked. He chastised the Black Eyed Peas track for not having nearly enough product placement in the video ("You missed so many advertunities!") and thought that "Birthday Sex" was a cop-out because it combined two things that people already love (in an alternative universe, it could have been called "Cupcake Reacharound"). Ultimately, neither song scored high on his scale (though the actual concept of birthday sex scored through the roof). Check out the full segment — including Colbert's dream mash-up — below.

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