Bette Midler sung a profane yet touching tribute to Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, rewriting her 1988 hit “Wind Beneath My Wings,” which praised Colbert for his decade-long refusal to kiss Trump’s “orange a–.”
“I haven’t sung in a long time,” the acclaimed singer and actress said, before singing in as strong a voice as ever.
“It must have been cold here at the Late Show, despite the high ratings and awards,“ Midler sang to Colbert, reflecting on the show’s May 2026 ending. ”You need a gig that’s more worthwhile, now that you’re more in demand than Epstein’s file.”
Referencing Colbert’s long-documented love of The Lord of the Rings, Midler sang, “Did you ever know that you’re my Frodo? You stand for what’s right with wit and class.”
She continued, “I hold you high as the great eagles, because you never kissed the orange a–.”
She repeated, “You never kissed the orange a–” a few more times, before getting the audience to sing the line for her.
Colbert seemed deeply moved by Midler’s song and stood up to hug her at the end.

Midler has been a long-time critic of President Trump, joking during the 2024 presidential election that she’d be drinking a bottle of Drano if Trump won.
In 2020 she live-tweeted the Republican National Convention, joking at one point, “I’m surprised Trump wants to destroy the #PostOffice. He got all his wives from it.”
In 2019 she publicly apologized after sharing a fake quote from Trump on Twitter. Trump responded to her apology by calling her a “washed-up psycho.”
Before she sang her song to Colbert, Midler said that she had a history of singing to talk-show hosts before they went off the air. She noted her performance of “One More For My Baby” in the final episode of “Late Night with Johnny Carson” in 1992.
Midler told Colbert, “I wanted to thank you personally and publicly for all you did for me for these last nine and a half years. I would not have made it through without you.”
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