“20 GRAMMYS. 1 LATE-NIGHT STAGE. AND BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN MAY HAVE JUST DELIVERED THE MOST EXPLOSIVE LIVE TV MOMENT OF THE YEAR.” 🔥 During one of Stephen Colbert’s final nights on The Late Show, Bruce Springsteen didn’t come to celebrate quietly. The moment he grabbed the microphone, the atmosphere inside the theater completely changed. Then came the line that instantly sent shockwaves across television and social media alike: “You’re the first guy in America who lost his show because we’ve got a president who can’t take a joke.” – hellotinhay
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Bruce Springsteen had some choice words for President Donald Trump during his appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
On Wednesday, May 20, the rock icon performed during the second-to-last episode of Stephen Colbert’s long-running show.
But before Springsteen, 76, played his single “Streets of Minneapolis,” he mourned the loss of the late-night show and slammed the president for not being able to “take a joke.”
Credit: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert/Youtube; Bruce Springsteen/Youtube
“I am here tonight to support Stephen, because you’re the first guy in America who lost his show because we’ve got a president who can’t take a joke,” the “Dancing in the Dark” artist said before his performance. “And because Larry and David Ellison feel the need to kiss his ass to get what they want.”
In the second remark, Springsteen was referring to billionaire Larry Ellison and his son David Ellison, who now own and control Paramount Global and therefore CBS.
“Stephen, these are small-minded people,” Springsteen continued. “They’ve got no idea what the freedoms of this beautiful country are supposed to be about.”
“The Boss” then dedicated his song “Streets of Minneapolis” to Colbert, 62, which details the Minnesota city’s ongoing protests against ICE in January and came amid Trump’s sweeping deportation efforts in the city, which resulted in the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
PEOPLE has reached out to The White House for comment.
Springsteen performed the track live for the first time on Jan. 30 at Tom Morello’s Defend Minnesota benefit concert, and it debuted No. 1 on Billboard’s Digital Song Sales chart.
Credit: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert/Youtube; Bruce Springsteen/Youtube
Since 2015, Colbert has hosted The Late Show for 11 seasons. He announced in July 2025 that his late-night talk show had been canceled by CBS.
Colbert said he was “grateful” for the opportunity and his “beautiful theater to call home” at the time.
In a statement at the time, CBS said the decision was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”
Colbert, however, had slammed CBS’ parent company Paramount for giving Donald Trump $16 million in a settlement before the show’s ending was revealed.
