‘It’s a Bulls**t Statistic!’ Ex-Colbert Staffer Shoots Down Claim Host Refused to Invite Conservatives on Show

Former Stephen Colbert staffer Pete Dominick called accusations that Colbert avoided conservative guests “bulls**t” and denied a report saying the late night comedian invited one conservative on his show since 2022.

Dominick, a comedian who served as the warm up act under Colbert for six years, joined Alisyn Camerota and Dave Briggs on the Sanity with Alisyn & Dave podcast to discuss the current state of comedy and President Donald Trump’s influence on the industry. Camerota said at the top of the episode that she sees the recent cancellation of Colbert’s Late Show as “alarming.”

“I see this in very stark, alarming terms. I don’t just see this as, oh well, another network loses its late night host.’ I see this as an authoritarian society — I mean, history has shown us comedians are the ones who are often exiled and jailed and fired… that is part of the playbook. All powerful leaders don’t like to be made fun of,” she said.

News of Colbert’s cancellation dropped shortly after Paramount — the parent company of CBS — settled a lawsuit from Trump. Colbert, a vocal critic of the president, blasted his employer over the settlement. Following Colbert’s show getting the axe, a merger between Paramount and Skydance received final approval, leading supporters to chalk the show’s cancellation up to being the president’s fault. The network said the Late Show cancellation was a financial decision. Some reports indicated the late night show was losing millions.

On the Sanity podcast, Briggs noted a report from right-wing media watchdog NewsBusters which found Colbert had one conservative guest — Liz Cheney — on his show since 2022 compared to more than 170 liberals.

“Is that a mistake?” Briggs asked after noting the numbers.

“No, and it’s also a bullshit statistic. Where does that come from?” Dominick said.

The comedian went on to trash NewsBusters as “conspiratorial.” Dominick insisted that Colbert did invite on conservative guests, but they were too afraid of the late night host “embarrassing” them.

“Do you think that Colbert didn’t invite JD Vance and every single crazy right winger on? They don’t come on with him because he’s too good at embarrassing them and it makes no sense for someone,” Dominick said.

“Do you know that they tried to book conservatives?” Briggs asked.

“Of course! It’s a bullshit statistic. You think Stephen Colbert is afraid of booking anyone? No. That guy would love — He booked Trump. He would have anyone on that would go on and he would rip them and he would get huge ratings,” Dominick said.

Check out the full exchange below:

DAVE BRIGGS: Is that a mistake?

PETE DOMINICK: No, and it’s also a bullshit statistic. Where does that come from?

BRIGGS: This comes from NewsBusters.

DOMINICK: Yeah, it’s bullshit. Do you think that Colbert didn’t invite JD Vance and every single crazy right winger on? They don’t come on with him because he’s too good at embarrassing them and it makes no sense for someone.

BRIGGS: You know that? Do you know that they tried to book conservatives?

DOMINICK: Of course! It’s a bullshit statistic. You think Stephen Colbert is afraid of booking anyone? No. That guy would love — He booked Trump. He would have anyone on that would go on and he would rip them and he would get huge ratings.

BRIGGS: I don’t know. I’d be really curious because I watched Colbert’s interview with Kamala Harris and I thought it was…look, I think Stephen Colbert is brilliant. It was weak, at best. No questions about Biden’s mental decline right in front of Kamala Harris. No questions about really pressing her on how she blew an election by not answering tough questions and sitting down for interviews. I thought it could have been a really interesting and compelling interview.

DOMINICK: See, I didn’t see the full thing, but I think that it’s a late night show and they’re trying to be as entertaining as possible, but I would agree with that criticism. I think that you should generally hold everybody’s feet to the fire. And this idea that we’re not entertaining the right wing opinions or that academia’s got a liberal bias, you miss me with all that nonsense! It is way up on bullshit mountain, including that statistic you just cited from that bizarrely discredited news organization NewsBusters, which is so right wing and conspiratorial, I’m pretty sure they were birthers back in the day.

Watch above via Sanity with Alisyn & Dave.