The family secret that reduced the star of the Colbert Report to tears:
Oh, the horrors!
Uber-Catholic Stephen Colbert had an emotional upset after finding out that – wait for it – his family descends from Lutherans.
The funny guy got the oh-so-shocking news while filming an episode of PBS’s upcoming “Faces of America,” a four-part documentary that focuses on the lineage of celebrities.
“This one was kind of unexpected, but when the big bad Catholic Stephen Colbert found out he was actually descended from Lutherans, he got extremely emotional,” the show’s host, Henry Louis Gates Jr., told us at Monday night's Lincoln Center premiere of the series.
The episode, which airs on Feb. 10, will show the entire ordeal. “We didn’t stop the cameras. Obviously we wanted to capture that moment,” Gates confirmed.
He later added: “There were tears.”
And while a rep for PBS wouldn’t comment, a network insider says Colbert was indeed shocked by his family tree.
“It was really very intense,” says the source.
“He had a very candid reaction, and it definitely made it in the final cut of the show. He was very surprised and overwhelmed.”
Perhaps that was the point. The source added that each celeb’s personal history uncovered on the show is bound to elicit emotion.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In