“There’s a standard that I try to hold myself to, and that is I do not make light of somebody else’s tragedy.”
Earlier this month, late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert made headlines for his over-the-top jokes at the Princess of Wales’s expense. Specifically, he took aim at the rumors swirling around Kate Middleton’s absence — and he didn’t hold back.
“The kingdom is in a state of panic about the apparent disappearance of Kate Middleton,” Colbert said in a monologue for his show a few weeks ago. “Well, internet sleuths now believe Kate’s absence may be linked to her husband and future King of England, William, having an affair. According to the tabloids at the time, when Kate confronted him about it, he laughed and said there was nothing to it. Always a good response when your wife accuses you of cheating.”
Since Colbert made those comments on-air, the true reason for Middleton’s absence has been revealed — by Middleton herself. In a video shared online, Middleton said doctors found cancer during her abdominal surgery in January, and that she has been undergoing treatment over the last few months.
Now that the world knows the true reason behind her “disappearance,” Colbert’s remarks aren’t exactly aging like a fine wine, and he seems well aware of that fact.
“We do a lot of shows, and I tell a lot of jokes, and I tell jokes about a lot of different things — mostly what everybody’s talking about,” Colbert said on Monday evening. “And for the last six weeks to two months, everybody has been talking about the mystery of Kate Middleton’s disappearance from public life.”
Colbert went on, “And two weeks ago, we did some jokes about that mystery and all the attendant fru-fra in the reporting about that, and when I made those jokes, that upset some people, even before her diagnosis was revealed, and I can understand that. There’s a standard that I try to hold myself to, and that is I do not make light of somebody else’s tragedy.”
Then Colbert addressed Middleton’s cancer diagnosis directly. “Now, I don’t know whether her prognosis is a tragic one, she’s the future queen of England and I assume she’s going to get the best possible medical care. But regardless of what it is, far too many of us know that any cancer diagnosis of any kind is harrowing for the patient and for their family. Though I’m sure they don’t need it from me, I and everyone here at The Late Show, would like to extend our well wishes and heartfelt hope that her recovery is swift and thorough.”
Earlier this month, when the Middleton obsession was in full swing, a few other celebrities poked fun at Middleton’s allegedly mysterious absence. One such celebrity was Blake Lively, who narrowed in on the controversy over Middleton’s doctored Mother’s Day photo by sharing her own doctored photo in an advertisement for her beverage company, Betty Buzz.
The Betty Buzz photo (which has since been scrubbed from the internet) was clearly edited, and showed Lively’s face pasted onto the body of an older woman lying by the pool. The caption read, “I’m so excited to share this new photo I just took today to announce our 4 new @bettybuzz & @bettybooze products. Now you know why I’ve been MIA.”
Following Middleton’s cancer diagnosis announcement, Lively posted a mea culpa to her Instagram story, acknowledging that she had made a “silly post around the ‘Photoshop fails’ frenzy,” and that she now regretted doing so. “Oh man, that post has me mortified today,” Lively said. “I’m sorry. Sending love and well wishes to all, always.”
Kim Kardashian is another celebrity who joined in on the #KateGate drama. On March 16, she posted a characteristically fashionable photo to her Instagram, with the simple caption, “On my way to go find Kate.” Kardashian has not apologized for the Instagram reference.
