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Stephen Colbert Interrupted by Hecklers During 'Late Show' Interview With Uber CEO

By Jackie Willis
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Stephen Colbert took matters into his own hands when a few alleged New York City cab drivers in TheLate Show audience on Wednesday got a little rowdy during his interview with Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.

"When they initially started shouting, it was just loud and you couldn't really understand them," an eyewitness tells ET exclusively. "When Stephen looked up to listen to them, they calmed down a little bit and explained that they were angry that Uber is taking away jobs from cab drivers and is disrupting the New York City taxi system."


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Rather than having his staff step in, Colbert addressed the matter head on. "Stephen just let the men speak and handled it himself," the eyewitness recalls. "He didn't motion for security or even look at anyone on his staff during the encounters."

While The Late Show did not air the heckling from the audience, Colbert did address their concerns during his interview. "What is your response to, 'Uber kills professional, good paying jobs and it's unfair to the drivers and it's destroying the cab industry?'" he asked Kalanick.

"In the Uber world, you can use your own car. You don't pay $40,000 to rent a vehicle. You make more dollars per hour and it's flexible," Kalanick responded. "You don't have a shift. You can turn on your work when you want to and you can turn it off."


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Colbert's interview with the Uber CEO was cut a bit short when it appeared on Wednesday's Late Show.

"Stephen had a really long, phenomenal interview with [Vice President] Joe Biden before this, so they edited the show to give Biden more air time and kept Kalanick's piece short," the eyewitness explains. "They didn't show anything related to the audience interjection -- not the interruption, the questions Stephen asked as a result, or any references either of them made to it."

Colbert certainly sounds like he kept it classy. The former Colbert Report host had an impressive first week as David Letterman's replacement on The Late Show. Here's eight of the funniest moments from his debut:

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