Did Stephen Colbert record and post a real video discussing the firing of CBS and 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley? No, that's not true: The video, which looked similar to an unrelated, real video posted by Colbert, was labeled as "AI-generated" on social media. Additionally, there were no trustworthy reports of Colbert's alleged comments.
The claim appeared in a video posted to TikTok on June 3, 2026 (archived here). The caption of the video opened:
Stephen Colbert commented on CBS's firing of Scott Pelley.
This is what the video looked like on TikTok:
(Image source: video posted by @watchentertainment13 on TikTok.)
The video, which was labeled by the creator as "AI-generated," was uploaded shortly after the longtime 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley was fired on June 2, 2026 (archived here). CBS canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which aired its last episode in May 2026.
However, there was no evidence that Colbert commented on Pelley's firing. Neither Colbert's Instagram account (archived here) nor his X account (archived here) show the video.
Reverse image searches on Google of a still of the video -- a search with the superimposed text included (archived here) and a search excluding the superimposed text (archived here) -- did not generate any results from a reliable source about the claim. In fact, there is a real video (archived here) posted by Colbert in the same outfit and setting endorsing then-gubernatorial candidate and now governor of New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill. The real endorsement video was therefore likely manipulated with AI to appear to be about Pelley.
A search on Google News for "Stephen Colbert AND Scott Pelley AND video," with results limited to the past week, did not show any credible news reports about Colbert making a statement on Pelley's firing (archived here).
Lead Stories previously published a fact check debunking the claim that Colbert announced plans to launch a program similar to 60 Minutes with Pelley; that fact check can be found here.
