Names and faces
After CBS The Late Show host Stephen Colbert told viewers that lawyers representing his old Comedy Central show said he couldn’t be “Stephen Colbert” anymore, he thumbed his nose at them with a transparent dodge. Lawyers representing his old company complained to CBS after he revived the character he played under his own name on The Colbert Report — a clueless, full- of- himself cable news host. They said that the character “Stephen Colbert” was their intellectual property, “which is surprising, since I never considered that guy much of an intellectual,” Colbert said Wednesday on The Late Show. The audience booed when Colbert, “with a heavy heart,” said it has been decreed that the character is kaput. “I feel the same way, but what can I do?” Colbert said. “The lawyers have spoken. I cannot reasonably argue that I own my own face and name. And as much as I’d like to have that guy on again, I can’t.” He then introduced “Stephen Colbert’s identical cousin,” an interview with himself displaying the same cocked eyebrow expression his old character had. Then the real Colbert did one of the old show’s most popular recurring segments, retitling “The Word” to “The Werd.” Representatives from CBS and Comedy Central declined comment Thursday. Fans were delighted last week when Colbert briefly brought the old character back. During his interview on Wednesday’s show, Colbert’s “identical cousin” said, “Stephen, whenever you need me, wild horses ridden by corporate lawyers could not keep me away.”
Lin- Manuel Miranda jokingly compared himself to a hard- to- catch Pokemon as fans pursued him with cellphones during a visit to his parents’ native Puerto Rico shortly after the end of his run on the Broadway hit Hamilton. Cheers broke out Wednesday as Miranda promised to take the show that won 11 Tony Awards to the U. S. territory, adding that he would like to turn it into a movie in the near future. “I will be your Hamilton!” he said with a wide smile as he arrived in the north coastal town of Vega Alta, where he spent his childhood summers selling ice cream and enlisting neighbors to star in his skits. Miranda credited his Puerto Rican roots for making him a writer, one whose most recent Broadway production earned a Pulitzer Prize for drama and other awards. “When you’re born in the United States but your parents are from here, you always live a double life,” he said in Spanish. “And that’s a good way to be a writer. You’re always observing the differences between Puerto Rico and New York.” As an artist, Miranda said it is also his responsibility to create empathy. Miranda urged Puerto Ricans to analyze what they want for the island’s future. “We have to figure out who we are,” he said, adding that he supports granting people living in Puerto Rico the right to vote for U. S. president because they are U. S. citizens.