Stephen Colbert spoke on the March 25 episode of „The Late Show” about Kate Middleton's recent announcement that she has cancer and will undergo early chemotherapy. The late-night host addressed the backlash she received for joking about Middleton's whereabouts earlier this month, just weeks before the Princess of Wales confirmed her diagnosis to the world.
“We do a lot of shows. I tell a lot of jokes. I make jokes about a lot of different things, mostly about what everybody's talking about,” Colbert said. “For the past six weeks to two months, everyone has been talking about the mystery of Kate Middleton's disappearance from public life. A couple of weeks ago, we made some jokes about that mystery. When I made those jokes, it upset some people…before her diagnosis came out. I can understand that many of my jokes have upset people in the past, and some of my jokes may upset people in the future, but there is one standard that I try to hold myself to, and that is that I don't ignore the other person. Tragedy.”
„I don't know if her prognosis is tragic…whatever it is, many of us know that any type of cancer diagnosis is devastating for the patient and their family,” Colbert continued. „I'm sure they didn't need it from me, and I and everyone here at 'The Late Show' want to extend our best wishes and heartfelt hopes for her speedy and full recovery.”
On the March 13 episode of „The Late Show,” Colbert jokingly addressed Middleton when he joked that her disappearance from public life was related to her husband's infidelity.
„The kingdom was in a tizzy over Kate Middleton's disappearance,” Colbert said at the time. „Now, internet naysayers are speculating that Kate's absence has something to do with her husband, future King William of England… According to the tabloid, when Kate allegedly confronted him, he laughed it off. Nothing to it. Always a good response when your wife accuses you of cheating.
Middleton announced her cancer diagnosis in a video posted on March 22. Since then, many celebrities have expressed regret for theorizing and/or joking about his whereabouts in the previous weeks. Blake Lively recently took to Instagram to apologize for mocking Middleton's „Photoshop fail.”
„I'm sure no one cares today, but I feel like I have to admit this,” Lively said in a message. „I made a funny post around the 'photoshop fails' craze and alas, that post offended me today. I'm sorry. Sending love and best wishes to everyone always.”
Just before Middleton went public with her diagnosis, celebrities like Jimmy Kimmel and Jamie Lee Curtis took to social media to speak out against conspiracy theories about Middleton's whereabouts.
„She's had surgery, she's had a tummy tuck. She might have a colostomy bag and everybody doesn't want to see it,” Kimmel said. „I mean, literally. People are demanding she dress up and march through London so we can see her. Leave this girl alone. !”
„Can you please stop this stupid conspiracy theory?” Curtis wrote on his Instagram. „This is a man with young children, and clearly some sort of health problem. It's a personal matter. Don't we have better things to do, think about and care about? This is a very low point in our society when there are so many important issues that need our attention.
In her video post, Middleton said that although her condition was initially thought to be cancer-free, cancer was found in her system following abdominal surgery, and she is now in the „early stages” of preventive chemotherapy. He did not confirm the type of cancer.