Stephen Colbert returns on Michigan public access with Jack White

Stephen Colbert resurfaced on a Monroe, Michigan community access show with Jack White at his side, using a small local platform to make a pointed statement about how much television has changed. The appearance came exactly 24 hours after Colbert’s final Late Show broadcast on CBS and made a major late-night figure look at home on a public-access-style program built far from the old network center of gravity.

The hourlong broadcast of Only in Monroe aired in southeast Michigan along the shores of Lake Erie, in a city about 40 miles northeast of Detroit. White, the Detroit native, served as Colbert’s “volunteer music director,” while Jeff Daniels sat for an interview, Steve Buscemi appeared in a prerecorded bit about Buscemi’s Pizza in Monroe, and Eminem turned up on tape as the “fire marshal.” Byron Allen joined by FaceTime as the host who will take over Comics Unleashed, the show set to replace The Late Show. The regular Monroe hosts, Michelle Baumann and former Miss America Kaye Lani Rae Rafko Wilson, also appeared, including a helium-balloon segment while Baumann spoke about her battle with cancer. A warning graphic on the show read, “Former professional TV host, do not try this at home.”

Colbert told viewers it had been “excruciating 23 hours” since he had been on TV, then joked that he was grateful to be on Monroe Community Media before it was also acquired by Paramount. He thanked White, Daniels, Baumann and Rafko Wilson, and closed by thanking viewers of Only in Monroe and his earlier talk shows. The cameo made the point that publicity in 2026 no longer depends on a single launchpad: a network stage, a studio audience and a fixed broadcast slot can be traded for a local-access set, a viral clip and a cross-country roster of recognizable names.

The Monroe appearance also fit Colbert’s history. He had hosted Only in Monroe once before, in the summer of 2015, just before taking over The Late Show from David Letterman. That earlier Monroe clip with Eminem later drew millions of YouTube views, showing how a seemingly minor local broadcast could become a national digital event. CBS said in July 2025 that it would end The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in May 2026 and retire the franchise, calling it “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.” Colbert’s return to Monroe, on public access and in the company of Jack White, showed how entertainment brands now bypass traditional launchpads and seek attention wherever audiences can still be reached.