be as strong as tuesday and wednesday. that's a once in a decade kind of wind event, so that won't recur, but it doesn't have to be something that bad to ground most of the air assets the fire crews rely on because they can deliver water and flame retardant to places the ground crews can't access. that's the wildcard in all this. cbs is partnering with the red cross to raise money for those impacted by the southern california wildfires. you can call 1-800 red cross or text red cross to 90999. thank you so much r watching! "the >> president donald trump says he would impose high tariffs on denmark unless they hand over greenland to the united states. this could make ozempic, the

weight loss drug made by the danish company over an artist more costly. >> people are saying "oh," actually what ozempic can do for them and then when they learn trump tariffs to make the drug prohibitively expensive, they are saying... >> no! >> no! >> don't worry. there's other ways to keep the weight off, like exercise. >> no. >> dieting. >> no. >> i'm just talking about the occasional salad. >> no! >> ozempic. we are sure trump will come to his senses. >> no, no, no, no. >> announcer: it's "the late show with stephen colbert." tonight... reign of terror! stephen joins the cast of "severance." plus, stephen welcomes ben stiller! and june squibb! featuring louis cato

and "the late show" band. and now, live on tape from the ed sullivan theater in new york city, it's stephen colbert! [cheers and applause] ♪ ♪ please have a seat. welcome home. welcome one and all in here, out there, all around the world to "the late show." i'm your host, stephen colbert. [cheers and applause] if you've been watching the news, you know it's been a terrible week for the people of los angeles, as devastating wildfires continu reaching in and around the city. the footage is truly heartbreaking, as thousands of homes are being destroyed and entire neighborhoods are being wiped out.

we here at "the late show," we know people, dear friends, who have lost everything in these fires. our hearts go out to everyone in los angeles, and, more usefully in this moment, so do our wallets. if you'd like to give, you can scan this qr code here to see a list of charities that are on the ground addressing the immediate needs of people who have been affected by this tragedy. in times like these, it's hard to know what to do, but it's pretty easy to know what not to do. for instance, the online betting site polymarket has been accepting wagers on things like how long it will take to contain these fires. starting a fantasy disaster pool clearly the wrong way to respond to a tragedy. there's a reason the hindenburg coverage didn't sound like this. into flames! yay! my parlay just hit! oh, the hu-money-ty! >> stephen: yesterday, president biden was in california, doing what presidents should do, pledging federal disaster support to a stricken state.

at the press conference, biden also made a personal announcement. >> but the good news is i'm a great-grandfather as of today. my eldest granddaughter. a 10-pound 4-ounce baby girl -- baby boy. [laughter] >> stephen: congratulations, mr. president, but i gotta say, there it is: the future the g.o.p. warned us about. your child starts out as a girl but by the end of the sentence, she's a boy. you happy, democrats! [laughter and applause] this happy occasion makes joe biden the first sitting president to become a great-grandfather while in office. and with under two weeks left, there's still time for joe to set more old-man presidential records: most malt-o-meal consumed at 4:00 a.m., most rubber bands collected in an old cigar box, first president ever

to fall asleep at a picnic and be carried away by ants. [laughter] he does seem very light, doesn't he? biden also gave a farewell interview to the number one newspaper left on the floor of hotel hallways, "usa today." and just in time, because there may be no usa tomorrow. biden came out swinging. when asked "do you believe you could have won in november?", joe replied, "i think yes, based on the polling." it was actually a very recent survey of younger voters -- specifically, one baby girl-baby boy. [laughter] when the reporter asked a follow-up, "do you think you would've had the vigor to serve another four years in office?", biden responded, "i don't know." sir, with a life-and-death job

like this, it's kind of important to have a "can-do" attitude. "throw me the baby!" "okay! can you catch him?" "i dunno." the president also left us with a gift on his way out the door. because in this interview, he told one heck of a joe biden story. brace yourselves and you should pack a snack. 'cause here we go. "it used to be when i was a kid, i was always the guy who was, and i don't mean to sound the wrong way, the leader of the pack, the neighbor. and we'd build a fort and i say, 'look, we build this thing. val gets to come.' you think i'm kidding? i'm not. billy kotzwinkle, the guy who wrote that famous... oh, god. the book about... it was a bestseller. [inaudible] this one, that one. one of these... anyway, when i got elected, he said -- he was from scranton. "i knew you were going to make it. you're the only guy in all our neighborhood ever climbed up the flagpole in maloney field

and sat on the ball on top." that joe biden story is the most joe biden joe biden has ever joe bidened. [applause] a rambling yarn boasting about a physical feat that could only have been accomplished by one of the little rascals. today, president biden was back in washington, where he gave a moving eulogy where he gave a moving eulogy at jimmy carter's funeral. the ceremony was a beautiful remembrance of a great american. and it was also a rare gathering of everyone in the marvel presidential universe. you got captain saxophone, madam popular vote, the invisible w.m.d., mr. netflix, when we harley, we quinn, stare-devil, dr. dumbass, and doug. it was a solemn occasion, which is why george w. bush greeted his presidential

successor like this. and... belly bonk! "hey, what's up? what's up? what's up, 44? you're lucky this is a funeral, or that woulda been a sack tap." ting, right there. down in texas, we call that clearing the brush. one touching moment came when gerald ford's son read a eulogy written for jimmy carter by his father. ford actually wrote it many years ago, because, even though the two were political rivals, they made a pact to speak at each other's funerals. carter did that for ford in 2007, and ford left behind a written eulogy for carter before he died. 'cause that's what good friends do. in fact, i have my friend jon stewart's eulogy right here. "we were all stunned when jon passed away in a tragic vegan nutri-bullet smoothie accident.

although he lived to be 110, he appeared to be that age for most of his life." there's more, but no spoilers. of course, just weeks from his inauguration, trump is laser-focused on the one thing that is sure to lower the price of eggs: annexing greenland. and the rest of the world is getting a little worried. in fact, danish officials fear trump is much more serious about acquiring greenland than in his first term. they're really nervous. the danish prime minister even released this statement: "oooo myuin gjaeood wae're su skraeud!" su skraeud! trump says he's open to using military force, but his first plan is to slap denmark with a bunch of tariffs. which is not great for us, 'cause we buy a surprising amount of stuff from denmark. for instance, denmark is the leading supplier to the united states of hearing aids. what?

these tariffs are going to hit us hard, because denmark also sells us baked goods, pig meat, and petroleum. but that's the entire menu at denny's! [laughter] what? and these tariffs would hit us right in the playroom, because denmark is home to lego. oh, sorry, kids! you'll have to play with america's next best toy, "your little brother." you know the slogan: "come on, just bring him. he looks up to you." with trump's inauguration fast approaching, the race to kiss his ass is intensifying. especially for facebook founder mark zuckerberg. over the last few weeks, he has donated $1 million to trump's inaugural fund, and on tuesday announced that meta will end its fact-checking program. but if there's no more fact-checking, how will i know if what i see on instagram is true? was haley's vacation "just the reset she needed?"

were the spicy margaritas "totally lit?" and is this really going to be her "year of yes"?! i don't know what to believe anymore! instead, meta will rely on a community-driven system similar to x's community notes. no! do not trust the community! the worst part about social media is other people. they know! don't believe me? no! look at this actual facebook post. npr posted a fine little story about pandas playing in the snow at the national zoo, so of course, somebody commented: "daily reminder that the u.s. is sending taxpayer funds to the taliban weekly." the pandas cannot help you with that, my man! they don't even know how to have sex! we've got to help them with tubes and stuff. in addition to getting rid of fact-checking, meta also severely loosened their hateful conduct policy, crossing out

formerly banned phrases. so now users can do things like refer to "women as household objects or property". [booing] no! wrong, that is horrible. you should never call a woman a household object unless you're using the pickup line: "girl, are you a humidifier? 'cause since you came into my life, fundamental problems that i wasn't even aware of are being corrected." [cheers and applause] zuck posted this video to explain the changes. >> the recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards, once again, prioritizing speech. so we're going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes. >> stephen: okay. counterpoint: i don't trust a guy with this haircut to "reduce mistakes." jim, put zuck up right over here. he looks like if your jewish aunt was jack harlow. he looks like a high school

guidance counselor who's called you in to his office to tell you he's getting a divorce. i'd say more, but if i leave his picture up for too long, we have to start paying royalties to art garfunkel. for you tonight! my guests are ben stiller and june squibb! but when we come back, i make an appearance in one of my favorite shows. tune in, won't you? ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ >> stephen: hey, everybody! welcome back. give it up for louis cato and "the late show" band right over there. [cheers and applause] we have one of my favorite comedians, actors, directors. ben stiller is going to be on. and a wonderful actress, june squibb will be here.

we've got some squibb heads in the house. june squibb, 95 years young, as we say in the talk show bus business. folks, i'm very excited to have ben stiller on the show tonight. he's starred in so many great projects: "tropic thunder," "zoolander," the extended "focker"-verse. but now he's director and executive producer of one of my favorite shows, "severance". [cheers and applause] which is about to release its second season on apple tv. if you haven't seen "severance" yet, it takes place in the mysterious underground offices of a company called "lumon," where the employees are forced to install a microchip in their brains. the chip makes it so the version of the person that's in the office -- known as their "innie" -- has no knowledge of their outside outside self -- known as their "outie" -- and vice versa. of course, forgetting who you are at the office is a common work problem i solved years ago by writing my name in giant letters on the outside of the building.

i can't wait to see more "severance," since the first season was filled with cool, inventive details like a mysterious number-sorting project, weird dance parties, a break room-slash-confession booth, and "splitting" an elevator ride into the office that contains the exact moment the employees transition into being their work selves and entirely forget what they have just done up until that point in their outside lives. "severance" is so good that the only thing i don't like about it is that i'm not in it. now, i've mentioned this before, but i actually shot a bunch of scenes for the show that were cut on account of them "not being good." but given that we have ben stiller here tonight, i wanted to share them with you again for the very first time. [applause] ♪ ♪

[farts] oh, my god, who did that. >> good morning and good afternoon. i would like to introduce you to steve c. >> welcome, steve c. >> what it is, irv. >> where is mark s? >> kitchen. >> hi, marcus. speeco >> it's mark s. >> all three of you have got beards, all three of you. >> no. >> three of you look great. >> so close to be here working at lululemon.

namaste. >> do ever wonder who your outie is? because that's not for me to know. >> i am steve c. wait a second. and why steve carell? this is an office. i see paper over there. if this was scranton, that expands why we never go outside. >> that kind of talk is not allowed. >> humorless, obsessed with the rules, your dwight. >> i am not delighted. i don't know who that is! >> classic to white. >> steve c, are you stealing from the supply closet? >> paper clips work better when they are wet. >> although i can be is sorry and that is all that i am. >> i'm afraid you still don't mean it.

>> yeah, i wasn't really feeling that. can we take that from the top? >> again please. think of all i be is sorry and that all that i am and as god is my witness never gone hungry again. >> again. no more accidents. >> some of the numbers are going to elicit sort of a fear response. >> i am aware. i know how to refine the numbers. >> do you know why sixes afraid of seven? >> i do, actually. >> okay. because seven ate nine. i believe that humor is a great motivator. i'm pretty sure i saw dwight crack a smile. >> steve c.

who are you talking to right n now? >> congratulations on hitting your quarterly goal. as you know, good behavior is rewarded here. therefore you may choose one option for music dance experience select carefully from this list of options. >> hit it! >> somebody once told me the world is going to roll me ♪ ♪ i ain't the sharpest tool in the shed normal she was looking kind of dumb with her finger at her thumb in the shape of a l on her forehead ♪ ♪ hit the ground running ♪ ♪ hey now ♪

♪ get your game on, go ♪ ♪ you're fired. that guy is hilarious. "the office" is without a doubt my favorite tv show. hold the elevator. >> i don't think two can fit in here. >> that's what she said. ♪ ♪ >> stephen: we'll be right back with ben stiller. with so many choices on booking.com there are so many tina feys i could be. so i hired body doubles. mountain climbing tina at a cabin. or tree climbing tina at a beach resort.

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[cheers and applause] >> stephen: welcome back! ladies and gentlemen, my first guest is an actor and filmmaker you know from franchises like "meet the parents," "madagascar," and "night at the museum." he now directs and produces season two of "severance." please welcome back to "the late show," ben stiller. [cheers and applaus e]

>> ben: thank you. >> stephen: nice to see you. always enjoy talking to you. have you been? >> ben: can i just say before we start? my heart goes out to everyone in l.a. i lived in l.a. for 20 years. what's going on or there is just so devastating and i keep thinking about all the people affected and the first responders who are working so hard to say people's lives. and i just wanted to say, you know, to send love to everybody. [applause] >> stephen: it's heartbreaking the number of people who've lost their homes there. well, it's a new year. this is our first week back doing the show. how were your holidays? >> ben: my holidays were

great. i got to relax a little bit and hang out at home. we live up in westchester. >> stephen: will what's your address? >> ben: it's 43 cedar hill road. we got to just be with the family. my daughter is 22. my son is 19. >> stephen: do you go back and just watch your old stuff? >> ben: that's what we do. i make them go back and just watch my old movies. everybody hanging out and it's good to be able to watch stuff together. >> stephen: what did you watch together? >> ben: great stuff that you want to share with your kids, classics, stuff. real housewives of beverl beverly hills. me and my daughter, that sort of our show. >> stephen: you continually watch it? it's been a thing for a while? >> ben: for the last year or so. we started going back. i didn't start at season one. >> stephen: how can you

possibly understand the story? >> ben: believe me, you get it. >> stephen: whose idea was that? >> ben: she loves it and i love it. it's great! >> stephen: speaking of things you love, i love this thing you've indulged in. it's an itch i would like to scratch as well. you got yourself something recently because you just want today. tell the people what you got. >> ben: are you talking about my "star trek" stuff? i bought william shatner's tunic, james t. kirk's tunic. >> stephen: a respect this enormously. >> ben: from "the enemy within" original series in the original tunic he wore. >> stephen: good kirk, bad kirk. that's where you get the trope that if you're evil you have the goatee. >> ben: actually that's "mirror mirror" not "enemy within." they get beamed into an

alternate universe. >> stephen: but it is good-bad. this is an example of him wearing it. >> ben: that's the little creature that gets split up. >> stephen: this is good kirk-bad kirk. bad kirk has the best line of all time. >> ben: which one? >> stephen: spock! i kill you! >> ben: and then he also has "i'm captain kirk. i'm captain kirk." [laughter] that's it right there. >> [shouts] it's not the only member really you have. what's this? >> ben: one of the intercoms from the enterprise. >> stephen: on the helm? captain 's log? look at this. you got the [bleep] head.

wait for me. i will be merciful. >> stephen: there is one man in the front row looking at me like this. >> stephen: in tropic thunder, your character watches the corn episode. >> ben: leonard nimoy when "tropic thunder" came out, he saw matthew mcconaughey a character had spock years. i met him at an event and he said i think i saw my ears and guess what. he sent me his real ears from the "star trek" movie. >> stephen: come on. it's all working out. it's all working out for ben stiller. >> ben: literally the most amazing thing i ever got. >> stephen: it's 2025 and you come bearing a gift for the new year and i'm very grateful and that is a new season of "severance." we have all waited far too long.

>> ben: thank you for being patient. >> stephen: i wasn't patient at all. i said some terrible things about you. do your kids wtch it? >> ben: they do. when we are making the show, we are making it without anybody seeing it and you do all the episodes together and it's taken a couple years, they are sort of -- christine and my kids are sort of the test audience for the show so i'll show them episodes while we are in process and get their feedback. >> stephen: we have a clip here for the new season. what's happening? >> ben: this is from the very first episode of the new season when mark comes back to work. mark s comes back to work and comes back to mdr for the first time. ♪ ♪ >> i suppose you are mark s.

i'm mark w. >> who are you people? >> would you be open to using a different first name to avoid confusion? >> welcome back, mark s. it's been a minute. [applause] >> stephen: when does it start? >> ben: the 17th. by the way, your piece, watching the peace and watching it again, i realized why we cut back. >> stephen: me too. still an honor. >> ben: with the hair was amazing. >> stephen: thank you. thank you very much. >> ben: the office-severance mashup. >> stephen: it was an honor to be up there. it's spooky to be in there. it's the set.

>> fantastic. i understand there's a podcast for "severance." is it started? >> ben: it started a couple days ago. adam scott and i decided to do a rewatch podcasting every day and between now when the show starts avenging every episode. >> stephen: are you having ghassan? >> ben: yes. seriously? >> stephen: seriously. >> ben: now i have the on record saying you be coming on. >> stephen: we have to take a quick break. we'll be right back with more ben stiller, everybody. stick around brand new iphone 16 pro and get you a at t-mobile. it's on them. families save 20% every month. what a deal! new and existing customers, trade in your busted old phone, and we'll give you a new iphone 16 pro with apple intelligence on us. ♪♪ if you're living with hiv, imagine being good to go without daily hiv pills. ♪♪ good to go binge-watch.

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>> stephen: hey, everybody, we're back with mr. ben stiller. you were working on a documenary that was fascinating to me, it's about your parents, jerry stiller and anne meara, two, two, the greats of the 20th century. one of things i love is they were in this theater many times on the ed sullivan show. how many times with aon? >> ben: 36 times. >> stephen: what have you uncovered about making this film, about your family and your own life? >> ben: i wanted to make something about them when my dad died in 2020 and my mom had been gone for a few years before that. it sort of turn into a story about being in a family that

since show business. my sister and i grew up with annette and now i have kids who are interested in being in it and how that crossed over. my parents' creativity and their relationship and how that was sort of interconnected. they were married for 60-something years. they worked together and they came on the on sullivan show and that made their career and when that happened, when they started have success on the show, their comedy team became their identity. they had to work with that. >> stephen: that wasn't the plan. >> ben: she wanted to be a serious actress. she was a great actress. my dad loved comedy any kind of pulled her into it. >> stephen: it paid the bills. >> ben: it did. they had to also have a family and have their own careers and figure that out so that's kind with the movie has been about. >> stephen: we have a clip of that as well. >> ben: this whole clip is just from an interview that we did as a family and i think 1974 at our apartment with pat collins who was a film critic

and host of a show, a local show. it's her interviewing my parents and me. >> i find out from your son benjamin that he wants to be a movie producer over a movie director. would you object if he went into show business? >> i'd love him to be a big producer. and hire his own mom and dad. >> benjamin stiller is an end jerry's answer to a fred hitchcock, clearly the most on uncompromising director on the west side. >> your mother says she liked you grow up to be a big producer. would you hire these two? >> no. >> you wouldn't? what is it? how fast they forget. >> i would hire somebody else. it would be hard to work with you. [laughter] >> so much for your career. thanks a lot, pal.

the bigger they are, the nicer they are. >> stephen: that's beautiful. ben, lovely to see you. thanks for being here. season two of "severance" premieres next friday on apple tv+. ben stiller, everybody. we'll be right back with june squibb. the first fda-cleared ed treatment available without a prescription. eroxon gel is clinically proven to work within ten minutes, so you and your partner can experience the heights of intimacy. new eroxon ed treatment gel. ♪ are you having any fun? ♪ ♪ what you getting the out of living? ♪acy. ♪ who cares for what you've got ♪ ♪ if you're not having any fun? ♪ ♪ are you having any laughs? ♪ ♪ are you getting any loving? ♪ ♪ if other people do, why can't you? ♪ ♪ have a little fun ♪ ♪ and have ♪ ♪ have a little fun ♪

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ladies and gentlemen, welcome back. my next guest is an academy award-nominated actor you know from films like "about schmidt" and "nebraska." she now stars in "thelma." >> we could report a tracking number if it's with western union, fedex, ups. contacting the postal service. with this type of thing, the odds are slim. especially without the address. >> i think i have it here. >> is there anything they can be done? database? >> this is a systemic issue. >> i don't have it. >> if it's any comfort, these scams are increasingly common. >> how do they know why am? >> they contact people at random. using social networking sites. >> like facebook? how can zuckerberg let this happen? shouldn't zuckenborg be able to

fix this? >> are you on facebook? because she's not. >> i would suggest canceling your cards and freezing your accounts. beyond that there's not much we can do on this point. >> stephen: please welcome to "the late show," june squibb. [cheers and applause] ♪ ♪ that's nice. thank you so much for me here. >> ben: thank >> stephen: you're getting a lot of acclaim. you are the starring role, you

are the lead. congratulations. >> june: thank you. >> stephen: what's the movie about? who is thelma? >> june: thelma is the writer's grandmother. she's now 104. >> stephen: based on his actual grandmother. >> june: and she was scams. they try to get money from her and luckily the family stopped it but it gave him the idea for this film. so it's her being scammed and what she does to get her money back. >> stephen: so its revenge? >> june: revenge and action. >> june: on -- >> stephen: it's an action comedy. there are action sequences and physical comedy and you were awarded "best stunt performance" from the alliance for women film journalist. here you are with the great richard roundtree writing your own jazzy.

with shaft. >> june: with shaft behind me the whole time. >> stephen: he's a bad mother -- what? >> june: that's not easy. >> stephen: were you hesitant? >> june: no, i wanted to. >> stephen: did they want you to? >> june: no, they did not. there's one scene in the retirement home. i ran into his scooter with my scooter. head on. they told me "you do not do that. you stop. you get off and a strong woman gets on." i thought what the hell, i can do this. so i just plowed in to him. richard didn't know i was going to do that so he was like, wow. i just zoomed off and i kept thinking, i hope they got that on camera. and they did! that's me doing that. >> stephen: fantastic. acting involves selling yourself, you know.

that's the kind way of saying is lying in auditions. once some of the best lies you had to tell? you're been doing this for 70 years. >> june: i lied once in an audition. i was asked to audition for la plume de ma tete. i danced. i went to the audition. i had never been in a pair of point she was in my life but i had told them, my agent had told them, she can do point. >> stephen: she can go on pointe on a horse. >> june: i'm surprised he didn't say that. i do know what to do and i ran into a stage manager i knew and he said what are you doing here? i said i'm here to audition for this role, he said you don't do

pointe. i said sure i do. he said where are your point shoes? i said i forgot them. he went downstairs and came back with an old pair of point shoes and was about to make me put them on when they called me to sing and i sang and this gentleman came walking down and he was the stage manager for "gypsy." it was the same producer. he had sat in for this replacement. he liked me and he asked me to do some strip movement and i didn't know what to do. >> stephen: because gypsy is burlesque. >> june: it was for one of the strippers. you've got to get a gimmick. i went downstairs and there is a friend of mine there and i said what is strip movement? she said oh, just bump and grind and dip a lot so that's what i did and i got it.

>> stephen: you got the job. which i just love. [applause] >> june: my first broadway show. >> stephen: "gypsy." you were once called the dirtiest on broadway. do you still have the goods? >> june: i do. >> stephen: do you have a favorite curse word to drop? >> june: yes. >> stephen: do you mind? we can [bleep] it. >> june: [bleep]. >> stephen: it's a classic. it gets the job done. >> june: it says so much. you can go everywhere with it. >> stephen: even on pointe. you celebrate in your 95th birthday in november. what wisdom can you impart to young people out there just starting out? >> june: oh, god, just keep going. really, you have to. it's hard. it's a hard business.

i think clive always said to people, if you don't have to do it, don't do it. but if you have to do it, it's going to take years. you can't say one thing. you can't give yourself time i don't think. >> stephen: a lot of people lie about their age. did you lie about your age? >> june: i always took five years off. i lived in new york for 65 years, during the time i was doing stage work. we all took about five years off. i continued it out in l.a. doing films. and then when i was doing "nebraska," wikipedia outed me. they truly did. >> stephen: damn it. so you're actually 100? >> june: [laughs] no, i stopped with the five years. through in june, thank you so much for being here. such a pleasure to meet you. the film "thelma" is streaming on hulu. june squibb, everybody. we'll be right back.

>> stephen: that's it for "the late show," everybody. tune in next week when i'll be joined by david schwimmer, janet yellen, and julia garner. now stick around for "after midnight" good night!