Stephen Colbert Left Speechless After Bette Midler’s Unexpected Message That Took Fans by Surprise

While visiting Colbert just months after CBS announced that The Late Show would be ending in May 2026, Midler decided to show her gratitude for Colbert and everything he stands for with a very special serenade.

The Hocus Pocus alum, 70, rewrote the lyrics to her own song, “Wind Beneath My Wings” to sing the special rendition, which began with the lyrics, “It must have been cold here at The Late Show / Despite the high ratings and awards.”

She continued: “You need a gig that’s more worthwhile / Now that you’re more in demand than Epstein’s file.”

While making the audience—and Colbert—break out in laughter with the witty lyrics, Midler then sat back and gave a cunning smile to the crowd, teasing the rest of the clever reimagined lyrics that she had up her sleeve.

“Did you ever know that you’re my Frodo?” she sang, referencing the main character in the Lord of the Rings series, of which Colbert, 61, is known for being a mega-fan.

“You stand for what’s right with wit and class!” the serenade went on, as Midler sang, “Thank you. I hold you high as the great egos / Because you never kissed the orange ass.”

She repeated the same line, “You never kissed the orange ass,” multiple times, before asking the audience to finish the line for her, to which the crowd executed perfectly.

To end the song, Midler sang, “Fly, fly away! Like Gandalf’s golden wings / Thank you, thank you, thank God for you, the Lord of all our rings.”

Bette Midler’s Serenade for Stephen Colbert Is Declared a ‘New Protest Song’

After Midler finished, Colbert stood up and gave her a big hug to say thank you. The pair embraced one another while Midler told the host, “I love you.”

Like Colbert, fans on Instagram were equally as impressed by Midler’s performance, with one user calling it a “new protest song.”

“Still sassy after all these years, I’ve always loved you”another fan wrote to the Beaches actress.

“As if we didn’t have enough reasons to love Bette Midler ” someone else added under the video, while other fans in the comments called Midler’s song “brilliant” and “the tribute we didn’t know we needed.”

“You gotta love Bette Midler!!!” another comment on the post read.

“Bette you are an American icon!!! Tears,” one user chimed in, while someone else said, “Obsessed with her always and forever!!!!

“Man…. If BETTE wrote lyrics about you and sang them directly to you, it wouldn’t get any better,” another commenter added.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs weeknights on CBS, with its final episodes to air at the end of the 2025-2026 broadcast season.