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The silence that followed was not passive; it was hostile, electric, full of unspoken tension from people unaccustomed to being scolded by someone they expected to entertain them.
Colbert’s next sentence, delivered slowly as if inviting each listener to wrestle with it, ignited even more outrage: “We cannot celebrate wealth while children are still struggling to survive, and pretending otherwise is the greatest fiction we have ever written.”
For a moment, the camera lights softened, the band paused, and even the staff hovering along the walls sensed they were witnessing history disguised as an awards ceremony.
What made the moment even more polarizing was that Colbert wasn’t speaking to politicians, ideologues, or activists — he was speaking directly to the people whose empires shape the global economy.
It was a speech designed not for applause but for awakening, and awaken it did, splitting social media into factions that began battling online before the gala even ended.
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