Yvonne De Mare has been promoted to director of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert ahead of the franchise series ending in May 2026.
De Mare has served as associate director under longtime director Jim Hoskinson, who announced his retirement during the taping of The Late Show on Thursday night. She joined The Late Show in Sept. 2015 and has worked with Colbert’s production team for 20 years, having previously served as associate director on The Colbert Report.
The end of The Late Show at the end of the 2025-26 season will leave CBS without a late-night presence for the first time since 1993, when David Letterman moved from NBC to launch late night talker. The cancellation news came just ahead of CBS’ parent company Paramount Global closing a merger with David Ellison’s Skydance.
Colbert has been a consistent ratings leader among the network’s 11:35 p.m. shows for much of the show’s run since 2015. Before working with Colbert, De Mare had her first directing gig on Food Network, before working as an associate director on talk shows like The Rosie O’Donnell Show and The Jane Pauley Show.
The Late Show, now in its 11th season, is produced by The Late Show Inc. and CBS Studios, in association with Spartina Productions. Stephen Colbert, Tom Purcell and Jon Stewart are executive producers.
Cancellation of The Late Show also came amid uncertainty around the network late-night landscape. ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! will begin the final season of its current three-year deal in the fall.
NBC late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers signed deals last year to continue hosting The Tonight Show and Late Night through 2028.
