Stephen Colbert’s voice, usually laced with sharp wit, cracked with raw emotion on The Late Show December 16, 2025, as he paid tribute to the late Virginia Giuffre, calling her memoir Nobody’s Girl “a light that refuses to go out.”h

On December 16, 2025, Stephen Colbert’s voice—usually laced with sharp wit that could disarm any scandal—cracked with raw emotion on The Late Show, as he paid tribute to the late Virginia Giuffre, calling her memoir Nobody’s Girl “a light that refuses to go out.”

The episode, titled “Light It,” opened without monologue or band, the studio lights dimmed to a single spotlight on Colbert. He held Giuffre’s book, eyes glistening: “Virginia Giuffre fought monsters while the world looked away. She named princes, predators, billionaires—and on April 25, the silence broke her. But her truth? It’s here, burning brighter.”

Colbert read her line—“They’ll never take the truth from me—not while I’m alive, and not even after I’m gone”—voice faltering. “This isn’t entertainment,” he said. “It’s indictment. Andrew stripped of titles, files unsealing December 19—Virginia’s light did that.” He praised her courage amid Epstein’s empire: “She was 16 when they stole her childhood. Her memoir is the scream we ignored too long.”

The tribute, amid December 12 photo releases showing elites in Epstein’s orbit, trended #ColbertForVirginia with 4.8 million posts (82% supportive). Colbert pledged proceeds from show merch to Giuffre’s SOAR foundation: “Her light refuses to go out. Let’s keep it blazing.”

As the audience rose in ovation, Colbert whispered, “For Virginia.” The raw emotion—wit surrendered to grief—ensured her silenced thunder roared through late-night, a beacon against power’s shadows.