Colbert remembered her as “a young woman who should be here tonight” while accepting the trophy for Outstanding Talk Series

Stephen Colbert used his latest Emmys win to pay tribute to a longtime colleague.

While accepting the trophy for Outstanding Talk Series at the 2025 Emmy Awards for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the late night host acknowledged Amy Cole — a longtime colleague on his CBS show and projects before it, including Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report.

“I want to dedicate this to my mom and dad, her mom and dad and a young woman who should be here tonight, Amy Cole,” Colbert, 61, said during the ceremony.

Stephen Colbert accepts the Emmy for Outstanding Talk Series at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards.VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty

Cole, who was Colbert’s assistant for 16 years, died in March 2024 at the age of 53, following a brief illness, per Deadline. Cole notably worked as executive assistant on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and her credits also include The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News and Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn.

Cole, who Deadline reported had cancer, was honored on The Late Show following her death, when a memorial card appeared on screen at the end of an episode, reading: “Dedicated to our dear friend Amy Cole, 1970-2024.” She was later featured in an “In Memoriam” segment at the 76th Creative Arts Emmy Awards in 2024.

“Words cannot measure how big a loss Amy Cole is to this world,” Late Show director and producer Jake Plunkett wrote on X at the time. “F— cancer.”

An obituary for Cole noted that working with Colbert was “more than a job” to her. ” It gave her a purpose and provided an opportunity to showcase herself as an incredible teammate to everyone involved. She was adored by her entire Late Show work family, and she will be greatly missed.”

Elsewhere during his acceptance speech on Sunday, Colbert shared some words with his loved ones two months after it was announced The Late Show with Stephen Colbert would be ending after 10 seasons. “Personally I want to thank my beautiful, brilliant wife Evelyn [McGee-Colbert] who’s the real brains of the outfit, and my three children — Madeline, Peter and John,” he continued.

Later he added, “Sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense that you might be losing it. In September of 2025, my friends, I have never loved my country more desperately. God bless America. Stay strong, be brave and if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor!”

The Daily Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live! were also up for the prize.