On Monday night’s episode of the Late Show With Stephen Colbert, First Lady Michelle Obama and John Legend were Colbert’s guests. Among other topics during Colbert’s interview with the First Lady, he talked with her about the Let Girls Learn and Reach Higher initiatives. He talked with Legend about incarceration, and how terrible it is that America leads the world in the number of people imprisoned.
Stephen Colbert started the Late Show by doing a little dance, as Jon Batiste led the house band, Stay Human. The studio audience were on their feet and clapping the entire time. Then, they chanted “Stephen! Stephen!” over and over again.
Colbert said, “You’ve joined us on a historic day! NASA announced that they found liquid water on the planet Mars. If there’s water on Mars, there’s a possibility there might be life on Mars. The water they found is full of mineral salts. The Rover might get wet and rust. If NASA can find water on Mars, maybe one day, they can find it in California.”
He added, “Mars isn’t the only place history is being made, tonight, I’ll be speaking with First Lady Michelle Obama. Either that, or it’s Cavity Search Monday. John Legend will be our musical guest.”
At his desk, the audience chanted Colbert’s first name repeatedly again. “You’re the greatest audience in the world! I’ve had a lot of Presidential candidates on, but I’m really looking forward to having Hillary Clinton.
“Hillary has always remained undaunted despite whatever controversy people have said she’s been involved in, but now, I may have found something that will daunt her. She was reported as being 5′ 5″, but now, she’s supposedly 5′ 7.” It could be a classic case of what happens when women get older.
“She has not shared her height with reporters since 1900, the taller guy has won 19 times, while the shorter guy has only won eight times. I’m calling it Heightghazi. What else is she hiding? Let’s be honest, we all know how she’s bulked up, juicing.”
“Everyone who runs for President has to Ride the Roid. Do you think they could do that without some Vein Candy? Some Barry Bonds Head-Enlarger? I can’t wait to see how Heigthghazi plays out. It could be big new for both herself and her running mate, Babe the Blue Ox.”
Stephen Colbert chats with First Lady Michelle Obama
Following a commercial break on the Late Show, Stephen Colbert introduced his first guest, First Lady Michelle Obama. As she sat down, the audience cheered, and she waved at them. “I agree, I agree,” Colbert told her. “I want to say, George Clooney didn’t get that. You’re the biggest star I’ve had on so far.”
Colbert talked about having seen her at a political dinner. Michelle mentioned his wife, who had also been there, and said, “It can’t be just you and me, Stephen.”
Colbert told her, “I hope I didn’t blow it,” when he was a guest at the White House.
She told him that he “was charming.”
Colbert said, “I saw you at the Global Citizens’ Festival Saturday.”
He added, “I don’t want to accuse you of jumping on my bandwagon, but I was there talking about education for young girls…”
Michelle then talked about “shining a light” on the issue that many young girls do not get educated in the world. She said that she wants women to tweet “What I learned in school.”
She said, “We want to build an awareness and ignite the hunger for education here. There are girls around the world who would die to have the kind of education girls can get here. There were kids in Chicago where I grew up who were as smart as me, but did not get the education that I got.”
Colbert said his Tweet was, “In school, I pretended I liked Moby Dick.”
When the Late Show returned from a commercial break, Stephen Colbert talked more with Michelle Obama about her “own educational history.” He showed a kindergarten photo of her, and she said, “I looked like Sasha,” one of her daughters.
Michelle also told Colbert about going to a magnet school and having to travel three hours each way. She said her daughters “weren’t buying it.” She mentioned that Pope Francis “was the second Pope” that she had seen in person.
“Do you have a favorite Pope?” Colbert asked.
“I like them all,” she replied.
“Well done!” Colbert told her.
Michelle then said that one of the things she would like to do after leaving the White House was “to open a window.” In the White House, she cannot even open up her own window.
Colbert asked Michelle what advice would she leave for the husband of the next President. She said, “to follow your own passion.”
Colbert said, “I believe he does, I believe he does. I am, of course, referring to Mr. Fiorina.”
After more commercials, when the Late Show returned, Stephen Colbert introduced his second guest, John Legend.
“Folks, I’m three weeks into the show, and I can tell you, it feels fun. I am myself now. And, leaving the character leaves one existential question, Who is the real Stephen Colbert?” He showed a montage of clips where media personalities asked who he was.
“To ultimately answer this very personal question, I have gone on a journey of self-discovery.” He said he “took a variety of tests, including Buzzfeed’s ‘Which Late Night Host Are You?’ It turns out, I’m a Jimmy Kimmel,” he said.
Stephen Colbert said one test he took told people which one of 16 personalities he was. The Who song, The Real Me, played, and a clip was shown of Colbert taking the personality test. “What if I find out I don’t have a personality?” he asked.
The woman giving him the test told him, “That it was absolutely impossible to not have a personality.”
“Have you ever met Ryan Seacrest?” he asked her. He said, “I’m an introvert in the streets, and an extrovert between the sheets.”
“Thanks for sharing that with me,” July said.
“Now, Stephen, in a large group, do you mostly introduce others or get introduced?”
“I get introduced, because I am famous, July,” he told her.
“Are people more likely to call you a procrastinator or do you like to get things done right way?” July asked him.
“Can we put that one off until later?” he asked.
She gave him the results, and said that he was like one of the most creative and intellectual people around, like William Shakespeare and Johnny Depp.
“What’s my ‘dark underbelly’?” he said.
“Some people might not see your kindness.”
“F**k you, f**k you.” he told her. “Here’s the truth…I’m very attracted to Johnny Depp. We are both pale, and we both like to dress up like pirates.”
July told him, “You have to be yourself to be accepted and find love.” It was a LOL hilarious video clip.
Back from more commercials, Stephen Colbert introduced John Legend. “It’s like old times! I’m glad to have you on!”
Colbert asked Legend if he had met the First Lady backstage. He said that “she was a nice lady.”
Legend agreed and Colbert told him, “It’s not a popularity contest.”
“You’ve got the glamorous life. You also have subject that interests you, jail incarceration,” Stephen Colbert said.
John Legend said, We out-imprison all other countries, even Russia and China. Our incarceration rate has gone up 7 times what it was in the 1970s.”
“I understand that one out of every four adults has a criminal record now,” Colbert said.
Legend said that was right, and much of the time, they cannot vote anymore. Six million people have been denied their right to vote. “Hopefully, we will see some action,” Legend said. He told Colbert it might have to be done on a state-by-state basis.
When the Late Show came back after another break, Stephen Colbert introduced John Legend again. He asked, “When does your next album come out?”
Legend said, “Early next year.”
Colbert told him, I know you didn’t bring a band with you, but we’ve often sung together in the past. How about we sing something patriotic like America the Beautiful?” Legend started out, and sounded great. Colbert joined in, singing a part of the song, and he sounded pretty good, himself. Then, they sang together, and sounded AMAZING!
“People are going to make love to that!” Stephen Colbert exclaimed. He said that the Late Show would be back after more commercials.
Colbert had just two guests on the Late Show this Monday, but they were both wonderful and entertaining. He Reached Higher with First Lady Michelle Obama, interviewing her about the Reach Higher and Let Girls Learn initiatives. He also took a personality test to learn who the “real Stephen Colbert” was. His second guest was the talented musical artist, John Legend, who talked with Colbert about how terrible it was that America has so many people incarcerated and how many have been denied the right to vote. Later, he and Colbert sang America the Beautiful together.
By John Samuels
Photos Courtesy CBS