In late June 2021, during an episode of “The Late Show” that was among the first to be filmed before a studio audience following the end of remote broadcasts caused by the pandemic, host Stephen Colbert addressed guest Jon Stewart with a slightly uneasy smile, saying, “You know we stopped filming a long time ago.” Stewart, the former host of “The Daily Show,” had surprised Colbert by delivering a comic monologue suggesting the controversial view that COVID-19 originated in a laboratory. At the time, mainstream societal norms, governmental perspectives, and major social media platforms largely condemned and censored this opinion.

Source link