‘Colbert Report’ halted as host’s mother is ill; fans show support
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Episodes of ‘The Colbert Report’ were canceled this week, reportedly because of the serious illness of Colbert’s 91-year-old mother, and fans have been showing their support for ‘a deeply decent guy.’
Several news outlets reported Friday on the illness of Colbert’s mother, Lorna, who incidentally is a resident of South Carolina — the state where her comedian son was running for office as ‘President of the United States of America of South Carolina.’
The comedian comes from a large Irish Catholic family, with 11 children. His father and two brothers were killed in a plane crash in 1974.
The Wednesday and Thursday tapings of the series were canceled at the last minute, with Comedy Central releasing only a short statement that cancellations were because of ‘unforseen circumstances.’ Although sources close to the show say they anticipate returning to new episodes soon, there’s been no official statement from the comedian or his family.
Fans have been tweeting their words of support on Twitter; none are upset about the missed shows. ‘Stephen Colbert... is a deeply decent guy,’ wrote one fan. ‘Hope everything is going well with our Mom. Your fans are all thinking about you,’ wrote another.
Meanwhile, Colbert’s political fortunes seem to be rising. Though the comedian has treated his interaction with the presidential election process as a gag for his show, Colbert is sitting on some serious political cash.
As The Times’ reported at the end of January, Colbert’s ‘super PAC’ had raised more than $1 million since it was formed last summer, the committee’s treasurer said in a letter to the Federal Election Commission.
According to Politico, a filing to the Federal Election Commission on Thursday revealed that Colbert’s super PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, had more than $800,000 on hand, all in legal donations.
And though Colbert has suspended his supposed run for ‘President of the United States of America of South Carolina,’ some people won’t let the idea go. The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports Colbert has now surpassed real Louisiana politician Buddy Roemer for sixth place in the Americans Elect poll, the nonpartisan organization looking to draft a third-party candidate for the fall.
Currently, the top draft candidate is Rep. Ron Paul.
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— Patrick Kevin Day
