Stephen Colbert’s opening monologue took an unexpected detour after an audience member loudly reacted to one of his jokes.
During Tuesday night’s episode of The Late Show, Colbert was discussing a report about alleged government spending tied to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth when the interruption happened.
Colbert joked about the reported costs of various purchases, including iPads, luxury recliners and fruit stands.
“The war’s price tag has already surpassed $6 billion,” Colbert said. “But for Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, burning through cash is business as usual.”
As he listed some of the expenses, including $12,000 for fruit basket stands, a woman in the audience suddenly shouted, “Wait, what?!”
The outburst caught Colbert’s attention immediately.
“I’m right there with you. ‘What?!’” he said, laughing. “Was that you? Did you just blurt that out?”
Colbert then thanked the audience member for paying such close attention to the monologue.
“I appreciate your attentiveness, ma’am,” he joked, before continuing with the bit.
He returned to the spending list and played off the moment by pointing back toward the audience member while repeating the line about fruit purchases.
Colbert continued the segment by joking about other reported expenses, including seafood purchases and various supplies.
As the crowd reacted to the numbers, Colbert added another punchline, joking that the Pentagon spending was simply honoring American history.
“Remember Paul Revere’s famous cry?” Colbert said. “One if by surf, two if by turf.”
Despite the brief interruption, the host smoothly returned to his prepared material and finished the monologue without missing a beat.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on CBS.
