Stephen Colbert is celebrating his boss — but he admitted he had ulterior motives.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert host, 61, opened his Thursday, Oct. 16 monologue with a nod to David Ellison — the CEO of Paramount Skydance — in honor of “National Boss’ Day.”

“I join you tonight in a celebratory mood because, as you know, today is National Boss’ Day,” Colbert joked. “I hope you all treated your boss to their favorite gift, two minutes of awkward chit-chat until the elevator arrives. Remember to say your kids’ names so they don’t have to.”

Colbert then took “a moment” to celebrate his own “new boss,” Ellison, 42, who became chairman and CEO the Paramount Skydance Corporation back in August amid his Skydance Media closing a roughly $8 billion merger with Paramount. “Mr. Ellison, I love you,” Colbert declared, as a “David Ellison Appreciation Cam” appeared on screen.

He added, “That ought to buy us a couple more months.”

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Colbert’s on-air tribute to his boss comes three months after it was announced The Late Show will be ending after 10 seasons — a decade after Colbert took over for his predecessor David Letterman. Colbert made the announcement during the show’s July 17 episode, sharing with his audience that the series would be coming to an end in May.

At the time, CBS told PEOPLE in a statement that the choice was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.” The move came days after Colbert slammed CBS’ parent company Paramount for giving Donald Trump $16 million in a settlement, which occurred while Paramount was in the midst of its Skydance merger. The merger required Trump-administration approval before it could move forward.

The merger was completed on Aug. 7. In the months since the announcement that The Late Show will end in May, the comedian has seen support from longtime friends including Jimmy Kimmel — who had his own late-night drama last month — and even scored an Emmy win for  Outstanding Talk Series in September.

During his acceptance speech, Colbert thanked CBS for “giving us the privilege to be part of the late night tradition, which I hope continues long after we’re no longer doing the show.”

“Personally I want to thank my beautiful, brilliant wife Evelyn [McGee-Colbert] who’s the real brains of the outfit, and my three children — Madeline, Peter and John,” he said.

Later he added, “Sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense that you might be losing it. In September of 2025, my friends, I have never loved my country more desperately. God bless America. Stay strong, be brave and if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor!”

Colbert later made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Sept. 30, where he revealed he was on vacation enjoying his summer break when James “Baby Doll” Dixon (his longtime manager) learned of the cancellation.

“He didn’t want to ruin my vacation because they told me a couple days before I got home,” he added, noting that he was “far out at sea” when it all went down. “I was drowning my entire life in spanakopita and Greek rosé, it was fantastic.”

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs weekdays on CBS at 11:35 p.m. ET.