Stephen Colbert Explains Daft Punk’s Absence From ‘Colbert Report’

Stephen Colbert recently sat down with Daily Show writer Paul Mercurio during his podcast to reveal what happened behind the curtain with Daft Punk’s Colbert Report cancellation.

While in character on his show, Colbert mocked Pitchfork’s initial report that the cancellation of Daft Punk was all part of a promotional set-up for Daft Punk’s VMA performance–their evidence pointing to Robin Thicke performing his summer single “Blurred Lines” on the show that was recorded nights before Daft Punk’s cancellation and Colbert’s super-star montage filmed at various times, according Rolling Stone.

Colbert wanted to address the issue while stepping out of character for his podcast interview with Mercurio, explaining that the opportunity for a Daft Punk appearance was killed by MTV at the last minute, according to Rolling Stone.

During the podcast, Colbert said he enjoyed the idea of having Daft Punk on the show and viewed it as “an interesting challange” given that the band members avoid public interviews and dress in robot outfits.

Though Daft Punk refused to perform or be interviewed, Colbert originally planned a six-minute monologue while Daft Punk communicated slight non-verbal gestures alongside him and he tried to enlist their manager for a speaking appearance, while also riffing on them refusing to perform, reported The Hollywood Reporter.

Despite fingers pointing towards the VMAs as the ultimate cause of cancellation, they said otherwise. “We don’t put restrictions on anyone. I just think that we’re talking to them about a moment and then things sort of change,” he says. “I would not describe that as MTV putting restrictions on people — it was up to that artist and their management what they wanted to do,” said VMAs executive producer Jesse Ignjatovic.