John Mulaney’s Goodbye Gift for Stephen Colbert? A $750 Check

In the run-up to Stephen Colbert‘s final Late Show (airing May 21), other guests have treated the host to songs and poems. But in what was his eighth—and likely last—visit to the CBS talker, John Mulaney opted for something more practical.

Toward the end of Mulaney’s Monday night interview segment, Colbert noted that the comedian is friendly with the episode’s next guest, musician David Byrne. (For one, when Mulaney hosted Saturday Night Live in February 2020, Byrne was the musical guest.)

As such, Colbert proposed a first for his 11-year-old program.

“I haven’t done this before, but [David is] coming out here in just a minute…. Do you want to stay and do the interview with him?” he asked Mulaney.

Not only did Mulaney respond with an appreciative yes, he used the moment to segue into a farewell gift for Colbert.

Mulaney removed a white envelope from his jacket’s inside breast pocket and handed it to Colbert. After Colbert read aloud the name of the hotel printed on the stationery—revealing where in town Mulaney is staying, had CBS not bleeped it out—Colbert opened the envelope.

“It’s a check! To me! For $750. Why…? Why? Why?” he asked, laughing.

“I don’t want to make a big deal out of it,” Mulaney explained, “but you won’t have a job soon….”

As the audience began to laugh, Mulaney chided them—”Come on, don’t embarrass him!”—before turning back to Colbert and resuming his presentation.

“Obviously you saved…,” he said to Colbert, “but this is so if you go, ‘Should I get the new suit for the job interview?’ Get it!”

Mulaney also suggested that Colbert might use the windfall to “take Evie out,” but whatever the case, “You have to cash it.” Colbert assured him he would.

Watch the full gifting below:

pic.twitter.com/X3uSMcHeSW

— LateNighter (@latenightercom) March 31, 2026