Stephen Colbert has accumulated a lot of enemies over the years, both real and fake.
On The Colbert Report nobody was safe—not politicians, not massive companies and not other comedians. As the show winds to a close on Dec. 18, TIME checked in with some of Colbert’s biggest nemeses to see how they felt about the end of the Report and the end of the intensely vain right-wing personality created by comedian Stephen Colbert.
Jimmy Fallon
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Colbert and Fallon have had a roller coaster relationship. The two declared themselves best friends for six months in 2011, which was naturally followed by six months of being “eternal enemies” before the two comedians faced off at the Emmys for their competing late night shows. In spite of their ups and downs, Fallon tells TIME:
“Stephen Colbert is without a doubt the funniest and most talented person to ever host The Colbert Report. Period.”
In October, Colbert called Google out for listing his height as 5’10” when he was really 5’11″—like Brad Pitt, Russell Crowe and, according to Google, Google CEO Larry Page. “Fix it or I will fix you Page,” Colbert said. “And yes, that is a physical threat.”
Google responded accordingly:
When asked to reflect on its tense relationship with Colbert, Google told TIME, “We respect Stephen and his show very much. It’s always hard to know the true measure of a man—and we’ve certainly had our differences—but we can say without an inch of a doubt, he’s reached new heights in comedy.”
Suey Park, who began the #CancelColbert hashtag
In March, Colbert found himself on the receiving end of a negative hasthag campaign. To play off the Redskins’ organization “The Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation,” Colbert satirically tweeted, “I am willing to show #Asian community I care by introducing the Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever.” This angered the activist, who started the hashtag #CancelColbert, which quickly gained viral steam.
Suey Park, who began the hashtag and explained its importance in a TIME column this spring, tells TIME:
“I never had a desire for the show to be cancelled. I simply saw it as a useful incident to frame a larger conversation on how we cannot flatten/compare how various communities of color have been racialized. False equivocacies [stet] blur the various logics of racism that work in tandem to uphold white heteropatriarchy. By pointing out both the weakness of white liberalism and representation politics, I was hoping we could have a more nuanced conversation on structural racism. It seems the media and liberal America are more concerned with pop culture critiques and the freedom of speech otherwise known as liberal humor than the very subject undergirding the name change debate: genocide.
I feel like people expect me to be angry about the success of a humorous white man as if it is new to me. I wish Stephen well and hope we can move past this ordeal, mainly for selfish reasons. I no longer want to ruminate on how #CancelColbert impacted my health and safety.”
Gene Hobgood, Mayor of Canton, Georgia—i.e. “the crappy Canton”
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In 2008, Colbert started a one-man campaign against towns named Canton—in Texas, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Ohio.
Gene Hobgood, the mayor of Canton, tells TIME:
After Colbert’s comments, referring to our City as “the crappy Canton,” several residents of our City called to complain. My response to most were that he is a “comedian” and his comments were not to be taken too seriously. Our City enjoyed the brief attention and was flattered to be singled out on The Colbert Report. Canton did appreciate his apology.
I have enjoyed almost every episode for many years. The Colbert Report and Mr. Colbert’s unique perspective will be missed. Count me among the crowd who will be following Colbert in his new adventure!
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Write to Eliana Dockterman at eliana.dockterman@time.com