Stephen Colbert’s Replacement Byron Allen Sets Record Straight After ‘Late Show’ Ends

Stephen Colbert‘s replacement, Byron Allen, just set the record straight after The Late Show With Stephen Colbert aired its final episode on May 21.

On May 22, the host of Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen — which is taking over Colbert’s 11:35 p.m. time slot on CBS — set the record straight about his intentions during a conversation with NPR.

“At the end of the day, I’m not trying to replace Colbert,” Allen, 65, explained. “I am not trying to hold on to his audience because Comics Unleashed has been around 20 years and has its own audience.”

Additionally, Allen called Colbert, 62, an “American treasure,” while admitting, “Not everybody’s gonna love me. But there is that one or two percent that would be like ‘hell yeah, I’m rolling with you’ and I learned that at an early age, and by the way, that simple lesson made me a billionaire.”

One major difference between Colbert’s show and Allen’s is the absence of politics.

“No politics,” Allen told CBS Mornings ahead of Colbert’s last episode. “You come, you laugh… We’ve had on a thousand comedians, every shape and size, you name it. And I want to bring people together using comedy.”

Although CBS said its decision to cancel The Late Show was for financial reasons, some have questioned whether it was political. NPR’s Ailsa Chang asked Byron if the network or its parent company, Paramount, has discussed “boundaries not to cross or topics to avoid” for Comics Unleashed.

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“I have absolutely not had any conversations with anybody at CBS or Paramount about what to say or not to say,” he answered. “Do you know that I’ve been taping this show here since July or August, and somebody from CBS just came by to say hello and thank us. Visited the set one time, came by to say, ‘We just want to see a taping because we haven’t been here.'”

Byron continued, “As a matter of fact, when we’ve sent the episodes over, they barely give notes… CBS has not given me any notes, any feedback about don’t be political. Remember, I started the show 20 years ago, and we’ve been crushing it for 20 years.”

Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen, weeknights at 11:35 a.m. ET, CBS

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