'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' Explains The Arrest Of Film Crew And Triumph The Insult Comic Dog At Capitol Building.
Stephen Colbert had a great response to his crew being arrested at the Capitol Building last week, including Robert Smigel, aka Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, with whom they were filming a scheduled a sketch for The Late Show.
In his opening monologue on Monday, Stephen Colbert broke down exactly what happened during the incident in his usual hilarious fashion,
"After [the crew] finished their interviews, they were doing some last-minute puppetry and jokey make-em-ups in a hallway, when Triumph and my folks were approached and detained by the Capitol police - which actually isn't that surprising."
He continued,
"The Capitol police are much more cautious than they were, say, 18 months ago, and for a very good reason. If you don't know what that reason is, I know what news network you watch.
"The Capitol police were just doing their job, my staff was just doing their job, everyone was very professional, everyone was very calm. My staffers were detained, processed and released. A very unpleasant experience for my staff."
Addressing Fox News' questioning of why the crew was there in the first place, using the term "insurrection," Colbert said,
"An insurrection involves disrupting the lawful actions of Congress and howling for the blood of elected leaders, all to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.
"This was first-degree puppetry. This was hijinks with intent to goof. Misappropriation of an old Conan bit."
CBS also made a statement of their own, as posted by THR,
"Their interviews at the Capitol were authorized and pre-arranged through Congressional aides of the members interviewed," a CBS spokesperson said.
"After leaving the members' offices on their last interview of the day, the production team stayed to film stand-ups and other final comedy elements in the halls when they were detained by Capitol Police."
This doesn't mean they are out of the woods just yet, given they were charged with unlawful entry for not having an official ID. Capitol Police are still determining whether or not to charge the crew further:
"This is an active criminal investigation, and may result in additional criminal charges after consultation with the U.S. Attorney."
Enstarz will keep you posted as this story unfolds further.
