Elon Musk has gone through quite a few transformations in his life, including going from late-night TV guest to late-night TV punchline. There was even a time when The Late Show with Stephen Colbert welcomed Musk to the studio.
Musk's decision to go all-in on politics was the final nail in the coffin for his relationship with late-night TV. He already put himself on the path to parody when he purchased Twitter, renamed it X, and unleashed a slew of changes to the social media platform.
Since then, Musk has been a near constant topic of conversation for late-night TV monologues. Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and Jon Stewart have all taken a crack at the Tesla CEO.
Stephen Colbert is certainly no different. In just the past few weeks, he has referred to Musk as a "sad" and "lonely" boy who was dismantling the government. It's hard to imagine Musk ever getting an invitation to The Late Show, even if he's been there before.
There was a time when Musk was a late-night TV regular. He's sat down to chat with David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, and Jimmy Kimmel. More recently, he's talked with Bill Maher and invited himself on to The Daily Show. His past interview with Colbert is a reminder of how much things have changed.
Stephen Colbert compared Elon Musk to a super villian in 2015
Elon Musk visited the Ed Sullivan Theater in September 2015. Donald Trump had yet to become president, and X was still Twitter.
In a segment of the interview that went viral, Stephen Colbert opened by comparing Musk to Tony Stark, listing off Musk's involvement in Tesla, SpaceX, and a solar power venture. Nowadays, Colbert only has to bring up Musk's business with the Department of Government Efficiency.
Colbert put Musk on the spot when he asked if Musk was truly trying to save the world. Because for the Late Show host, it was difficult to justify that lofty goal with Musk's status as a billionaire. Colbert said Musk could either be a superhero or super villian, to which Musk only replied he's trying to do good things.
The interview continued with Colbert revealing he not only owned a Tesla, but loved it. As recently as 2022, Colbert said he's still drivin a Tesla. But there's no update if he's ditched the electric car in protest.
All in all, it was a rather friendly conversation between two men who seemed to amuse each other. That's a far cry from where things stand today as Colbert relentlessly attacks Musk on The Late Show. In the superhero vs. super villian debate, Colbert has definitely made up his mind.