Colbert Has a Big Name Left on Guest Bucket List

Stephen Colbert has one big item left on his Late Show bucket list—and he wears a white cassock. As CBS' Late Show heads toward its May 21 finale, Colbert told the Hollywood Reporter that his dream final guest is Pope Leo XIV, calling the pontiff "my white whale." The Catholic host said he personally wrote to Leo, joking in the letter, "Your Holiness, I hope this letter finds you well or, at the very least, infallible," and promising, "We don't have to talk about politics."

Colbert said he instead pitched a conversation about "being an American Catholic," though Leo has already shown a willingness to wade into political territory, publicly clashing with President Trump over immigration and the Iran war. After Trump blasted the pope as weak on crime and bad on foreign policy, Leo responded that he had "no fear of the Trump administration" and was focused on preaching the gospel as a "peacemaker." Colbert, who previously met Pope Francis at the Vatican, joked that if Leo shows up on Jimmy Kimmel's couch instead, he might have to "think hard about the Presbyterian church," notes Entertainment Weekly.