What do you get the late-night host who has everything?
Well, if said host is a renowned Tolkienite… and you’re a cable news anchor who’s handy with a paint brush… the answer is pretty obvious.
On Monday night’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert—the first of the CBS franchise’s final 16 episodes—CNN’s Jake Tapper, a 14-time guest, bid Stephen Colbert a fond farewell with a gift that can best be described as precious.
Tapper closed out his two-part interview segment by presenting Colbert with a framed painting of the Late Show host as Gollum, the iconic and disturbing creature from Tolkien’s The Hobbit and his Lord of the Rings trilogy.
“I was thinking about how special you are to me, and how special this show and you are to them,” the audience, Tapper said before revealing the gift. Thing is, “You are tough to shop for,” Tapper said. “Let’s be honest—you have a little money.”
So Tapper, an artist whose cartoons and illustrations have been featured in major outlets like The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The American Spectator, decided to paint something for Colbert. Of Colbert. He considered the usual Tolkien suspects—Hobbits, wizards—but luckily he checked in with Colbert’s wife Evie before putting paint to canvas.
“She was like, ‘He doesn’t need another ‘Stephen Colbert as a Hobbit.’ He doesn’t need another ‘Stephen Colbert as a wizard,'” Tapper recounted. “But I know you love The Lord of the Rings, so I painted you this.”
As Tapper turned the frame around to reveal Colbert-as-Gollum, the Late Show host was simultaneously surprised and taken aback by the on-brand gesture.
“It’s beautiful. It’s beautiful,” he remarked of the painting, before bidding Tapper aka “My precious” adieu.
Watch the presentation below:
To be clear, Colbert is no ordinary Tolkien fan. As announced on March 25, he and filmmaker Peter Jackson are collaborating on a new Lord of the Rings movie, set 14 years after the passing of Frodo and tentatively subtitled Shadow of the Past. Colbert will co-write the film with franchise vet Philippa Boyens and his son, Peter McGee.
Colbert’s previous associations with the LOTR realm include the small role of a Laketown spy in 2013’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and directing Jackson plus franchise stars Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen and Viggo Mortensen in 2019’s Darrylgorn, a short film he also wrote.
Thank you for all the special evenings we, ( you me and thee), spent together with laughter and a beautiful sense of humor. If you don’t return to late night, we wish you luck in the future with your endeavors. That idiot should never have been allowed to hold office.