The Late Show host addressed his former comments during his Monday night show, saying: “I tell jokes about a lot of different things, mostly about what everybody is talking about.
WATCH: A remorseful @StephenAtHome on his The Late Show following his recent jokes about the Princess of Wales and the rumours about her disappearance and marriage. “I tell a lot of jokes” he says but wishes Kate a “swift and thorough” recovery 👇 @colbertlateshowpic.twitter.com/ksZ3DU2ccx
“For the last six weeks to two months, everybody has been talking about the mystery of Kate Middleton’s disappearance from public life. Two weeks ago, we did some jokes about that mystery.
“When I made those jokes, that upset some people... even before her diagnosis was revealed. I can understand that a lot of my jokes have upset people in the past and some of my jokes will upset people in the future, but there’s a standard that I try to hold myself to, and that is I do not make light of somebody else’s tragedy.”
Catherine, the Princess of Wales, is undergoing chemotherapy. Photo / Kensington Palace
Colbert acknowledged that “any cancer diagnosis of any kind is harrowing for the patient and their family... I and everyone here at The Late Show would like to extend our well-wishes and heartfelt hope that her recovery is swift and thorough”.
But it wasn’t enough for many social media users, who pointed out that his words didn’t amount to an “actual apology” to Princess Catherine.
“Could Stephen Colbert be any more of a jerk? This is misleading rambling, NOT an apology of any kind,” one wrote on X, formerly Twitter, while others defended Colbert because he “doesn’t need to” apologise for his jokes.
It comes after The View hosts issued their own apology for speculating about the Princess before her diagnosis was confirmed. Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin, Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro apologised to their co-host Whoopi Goldberg, who had attempted to shut down the conversation about Catherine’s whereabouts in a previous show.
“I’m guilty of having gotten into the fun of where’s Kate and thinking it’s funny and sharing the memes and playing into that,” Griffin said, while Navarro said it was “a teachable moment”.
“The lesson I learned was: when Whoopi Goldberg tells me to mind my own damn business, I will mind my own damn business from now on,” she added.
However, after the Princess shared the news in an emotional video last Friday, Lively deleted the post and apologised, writing: “I’m sure no one cares today but I feel like I have to acknowledge this. I made a silly post around the ‘photoshop fails’ frenzy, and oh man, that post has me mortified today.
“I’m sorry. Sending love and well wishes to all, always.”
Kim Kardashian was called out for a similar comment, after sharing several photos of herself on Instagram captioned: “On my way to go find Kate.” Despite comments from her followers urging her to take down the post, it remains on her Instagram profile.
Fans are calling on Kim Kardashian to delete an Instagram post making light of Princess Catherine's whereabouts. Photo / Getty Images
Former Atomic Kitten singer and reality TV star Kerry Katona has said she will “hold my hands up” (sic) and apologise for her part in spreading conspiracy theories about the Princess of Wales.
“I just feel like we’ve all gone down this rabbit hole and I got sucked in,” she told The Sun.
Meanwhile, British activist and journalist Owen Jones apologised on X, writing: “As someone who speculated on this without considering it could be a serious health condition, I’m very ashamed to be honest, and all the very best to her.”
British broadcaster Piers Morgan has criticised those who circulated “insane” theories about Catherine online over the past few weeks.
“People on here shrieking ‘LEAVE KATE ALONE!’ when they have spent the past few weeks spewing insane conspiracy theories about her is beyond parody,” Morgan wrote.
