Stephen Colbert says Kanye West is banned from "The Late Show" theater: "Stay out of Times Square"
Kanye West continues to face backlash after he made multiple antisemitic comments earlier this month. On Thursday night, Stephen Colbert, host of CBS' "The Late Show" banned the rapper from going to the theater where they film and "the northern half of Times Square."
"After much thought and soul-searching, I, Stephen Colbert, am banning Kanye West from the Ed Sullivan Theater," Colbert said during the opening of his show. "I have to. I have to. Line in the sand."
Colbert continued to quip that his "jurisdiction extends to the northern half of Times Square."
"I am banning Kanye from coming north of Bubba Gump Shrimp," he said. "...Stay out of Times Square. He's been creeping out the Elmos and they've seen a lot already."
The move, Colbert continued, "has been too long in coming."
"I have no excuses for why I didn't do this before, except perhaps that he has never been on the show, we have never asked him to be on the show, and I'm not sure he's aware that I have a show. But I had to do it now because I was afraid he would just show up at any moment because that's what he did yesterday."
On Wednesday, Skechers said that it had to escort West, who now goes by the name Ye, out of its California headquarters after he "arrived unannounced and without invitation" and "was engaged in unauthorized filming." The unprompted visit came a day after Adidas ended its partnership with Ye over his recent antisemitic remarks.
"In five years, the idea of an unannounced visit from Kanye has gone from amazing to, 'Sir, you need to leave this Skechers,'" Colbert joked. "...It gets worse – unlike with Adidas, Kanye never had a deal with Skechers. Apparently, Kanye is so desperate, he's just driving around and searching Google Maps for 'shoes near me.'"
This is just the latest condemnation of Ye since he threatened to go "death [sic] con 3" on Jewish people. TJX Companies, which owns TJ Maxx, talent powerhouse Creative Artists Agency, Gap, Balenciaga, and several other entities have severed their relationships with the artist.