George Clooney, Kendrick Lamar, Scarlett Johansson and Elon Musk among the guests, as show premieres Sept. 8.
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert has announced the full lineup of guests for its premiere week. Colbert will kick things off with guests ranging from megastars of film and music to VIPs from the worlds of politics and business.
Colbert previously teased that Academy Award winner George Clooney and Republican presidential candidate and former governor of Florida Jeb Bush would join him on the inaugural episode Sept. 8 along with Jon Batiste, bandleader of Stay Human, The Late Show's new band.
But the complete list of week one guests offers a clearer picture of how Colbert will look to differentiate himself from predecessor David Letterman as well as his Hollywood-centric competition on NBC (Jimmy Fallon) and ABC (Jimmy Kimmel). To that end, Colbert's lineup for night two, which features an A-list actress (Scarlett Johansson) alongside a Silicon Valley entrepreneur (SpaceX and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk), is most revealing.
In an appearance at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour earlier this month, Colbert suggested he'd welcome a wide swath of guests to his nightly show: "Anybody that's interesting and has something to say," is how he phrased it. For their part, his bosses, CBS entertainment chairman Nina Tassler and CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves, have been busy teasing their new host's intellect as well as his humor, noting that Colbert is the ideal choice heading into an election year.
Check out the list below for the complete lineup for Tuesday, Sept. 8, through Friday, Sept. 11.
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will air weeknights at 11:35 p.m. on CBS.