Stephen Colbert’s neon sign pops up in West Hollywood. Screenshot/YouTube Logo text The Late Show With Stephen Colbert has been canceled, dismantled and auctioned off. But at least one piece of it has already found work.
The show’s 12-foot illuminated sign is now sitting atop WeHo Bistro, a French restaurant on La Cienega Boulevard, where it has begun an unlikely second career advertising steak frites.
OwnerJeff Douek acquired the sign during The Late Show‘s aptly named “Everything Must Go!” auction, which sold off memorabilia and set pieces to benefit World Central Kitchen. Douek lost the first bidding war but got another shot when the winner failed to complete the purchase. He returned, outlasted 169 other bidders and bought the sign for a reported $102,100.
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That is a lot of money for a souvenir, even one too large to fit inside most homes. But Douek says he wanted to preserve a piece of television history and “share the magic of Stephen Colbert with others.”
Getting the magic to California required transporting it 2,801 miles from New York. It is currently installed on the restaurant’s roof, though Douek plans to move it into the atrium, where customers can photograph themselves beneath it rather than merely slowing traffic to stare.
And the sign may soon be back in show business. Beginning in August, Douek says the restaurant will host its own Tuesday night “Late Show,” featuring comedy, music and other performers.
CBS may have pulled the plug on Colbert. On La Cienega, somebody plugged him back in.
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This story appeared in the July 22 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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