Robert De Niro Sends Off Stephen Colbert by Slamming Trump With Epstein Jab

Coverage diverges in tone and emphasis. Variety framed De Niro's remarks as a pointed attack, highlighting the actor's disdain for Trump, while NME presented the incident more neutrally, focusing on the joke itself without extensive…

Marlow Stern· May 21, 2026 · 4:45 AM UTC ·2 min read · 0 reactions · 0 comments · 46 views

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TL;DR · WeSearch summary

Robert De Niro made a notable appearance on Stephen Colbert's penultimate episode of 'The Late Show.' During the segment, he humorously referenced Donald Trump in relation to Jeffrey Epstein. The audience responded positively to De Niro's quip about the number of Epstein files Trump has not released.

Key facts

▪Robert De Niro appeared on Stephen Colbert's final weeks of 'The Late Show.'
▪He humorously suggested that Trump has not released two and a half million Epstein files.
▪The audience applauded De Niro's jab at Trump.

How this story was covered

4 outlets in our directory ran this story, first to last over 36 hours. Coverage spans 2 points on the political spectrum — 2 centre, 1 right.

Centre · 2Right · 1

▪ Trump lashes out at Colbert after 'Late Show' finale: 'Like a dead person' — The Washington Times
▪ 'Like a dead person': Trump reacts to the Late Show with Stephen Colbert's final episode — Sky News — Top
▪ Robert De Niro slates Trump with Epstein joke in Stephen Colbert’s penultimate ‘Late Show’ episode — NME

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Variety · Marlow Stern

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Record

Original publisher	Variety
Canonical URL	https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/robert-de-niro-stephen-colbert-late-show-trump-jeffrey-epstein-1236755675/
Publication time	Thu, 21 May 2026 04:45:50 +0000
Retrieval time	2026-05-21T05:05:03.495Z
Last seen	2026-05-21T05:05:03.495Z
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Excerpt method	First ~120 words (~800 chars) of extracted publisher body, fair-use limited.
Summary	WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer)
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Citation coverage	Summary is a WeSearch-generated derivative; primary citation is the original publisher URL.
Cluster	BLXa9AEb9dYU · 4 stories
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Ranking reason	Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking.
Publisher visit	Yes — open original
Substitutes article?	No — link-out required for full text

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Indexing	May the item be indexed (stored, ranked, made findable)?	Allowed
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AI summary	May WeSearch generate its own short summary of the article?	Limited
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Commercial reuse	May the content be reused commercially?	Not permitted

Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.

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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand

Home TV News May 20, 2026 9:45pm PT Robert De Niro Sends Off Stephen Colbert by Slamming Trump With Epstein Jab By Marlow Stern Plus Icon Marlow Stern Chief Correspondent Latest ‘In the City’ Premiere Shocker: Amanda Batula and Kyle Cooke Emotionally Address West Wilson Cheating Rumors 1 day ago Inside the Explosive ‘Summer House’ Finale That Changes Everything 1 day ago ‘South Park’ Creators Show Jimmy Kimmel How They Made Trump’s Tiny Penis 2 days ago See All Scott Kowalchyk /CBS Stephen Colbert has been milking the heck out of his final weeks as host of “The Late Show” (and rightfully so).

…

Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Variety.

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