During the taping for tonight's Late Show with Stephen Colbert, a protestor reportedly interrupted Colbert's interview with Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. The person began shouting about Uber "ruining" the New York City taxi industry, according to BuzzFeed News reporter Rachel Zarrell. Rather than hush the disruption or ignore the man protesting, Colbert allowed him to speak freely — at least briefly. Another account from the set suggests the protestor is affiliated with the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, an agency that has routinely butted heads with Uber and its business model.
At Colbert, audience member started protesting the Uber CEO. Amazing how Colbert just let him speak.
— Rachel Zarrell (@rachelzarrell) September 10, 2015
Holy crap taxi association at The Late Show standing up in the audience to yell at the CEO of Uber
— Jeremy Nguyen (@jeremywins) September 10, 2015
It remains to be seen whether the awkward moment will make it onto the aired version of The Late Show later tonight. If so, we'll be sure to add the video to this story. Photography and other means of recording are strictly prohibited during tapings of Colbert's show at the Ed Sullivan Theater, so if the encounter doesn't survive through edits, we may never see it.