Stephen Colbert Sticks It To CBS On ‘The Late Show’ And Showcases Kristen Stewart’s ‘Rolling Stone’ Cover Despite Being Asked Not To: “You Look Better In A Jockstrap Than I Ever Did”

Stephen Colbert defied CBS‘s wishes in support of his guest Kristen Stewart on Monday night’s (March 11) episode of The Late Show.

Colbert welcomed the Twilight star to promote her new film Love Lies Bleeding, but took a moment to point out that “there’s a lot of buzz” about her March Rolling Stone cover shoot, per Variety.

Prior to showcasing the cover, Colbert clarified to Stewart and the studio audience that he “think[s] it’s a perfectly lovely cover,” but that they “were asked by CBS not to show it.”

“They thought that would be not a good idea for us to show this, and I don’t understand why,” he continued. “Because there’s the cover, right there.”

Once Colbert unveiled the cover — which features Stewart dressed in a leather vest and a jockstrap with her right hand placed in her jockstrap — the audience erupted into applause, and Stewart responded with two thumbs up.

Decider reached out to a representative for The Late Show for comment, but did not hear back by time of publication.

Once the applause subsided, Colbert quipped, “I want to say that you look better in a jockstrap than I ever did.”

After highlighting that people are “losing their mind” online over the cover, he asked Stewart for her thoughts.

“Well, OK, let’s keep this light… It’s a little ironic because I feel like I’ve seen like a lot of male pubic hair on the cover of things,” she explained. “I’ve seen like a lot of hands in pants and like unbuttoned. I think there’s a certain overt acknowledgement of a female sexuality that has its own volition in a way that is annoying for people who are sexist and homophobic.”

Colbert noted that he’s “certainly seen more revealing covers on Rolling Stone or Sports Illustrated for that matter,” to which Stewart echoed, “it’s not remotely explicit.”

Colbert continued, “I think that it also violates public expectations of female sexuality as opposed to how you’re presenting it here.”

Stewart agreed, “Yes, because female sexuality isn’t supposed to actually want anything but to be had. And that feels like it’s protruding in a way that might be annoying, but fuck you.”

Colbert also prompted Stewart to read aloud some of her comments from the cover story about Donald Trump, whose tweets calling her out for “cheating” on Robert Pattinson in 2012 inspired her to come out during her Saturday Night Live monologue in 2017.

Colbert’s defiance follows Jimmy Kimmel pushing against ABC executives’ wishes to feature John Cena‘s streaker bit at the Oscars, as he claimed that they were “terrified” to go through with it.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs on CBS weeknights at 11:35/10:35c.