Stephen Colbert slams sites like Pitchfork for asserting his Daft Punk slight was just a stunt

By Marah Eakin | August 8, 2013 | 8:40pm

Aux Features TV

Following Daft Punk’s Tuesday night no-show on The Colbert Report, a number of sites (Pitchfork, Billboard, Consequence Of Sound) cast skeptical glares at the show, suggesting that perhaps the band was never actually booked on the show, and rather the whole thing was just an orchestrated stunt to promote MTV’s Video Music Awards. Of course, regular Colbert viewers who know that Viacom promotion isn't a cause close to their favorite host's heart came to his defense. And Wednesday night, Colbert himself got into the fray, ripping Pitchfork in particular for suggesting the whole thing was “an elaborate fake out.”

In a segment titled “Disco Deceptions,” Colbert sarcastically admitted to being totally busted, saying that the staff of the show “thought we'd tricked you by flying in the disco Decepticons from Paris in a sophisticated pantomime to fool everyone, even myself, so committed was I that Daft Punk was coming—all just to help someone else's show on another network a month from now.” Colbert then went on to promote the VMAs, which he says will air on OWN, Sept. 5 at 3 a.m., right after the premiere of Hysterectomy Horrors with host Lou Diamond Phillips.