Stephen Colbert
Television Host
New York, USA
“Being natural is simply a pose, and the most irritating pose I know.”
So wrote Oscar Wilde, and for the past nine years, as the facetiously reactionary host of “The Colbert Report,” Oscar Wilde Award honoree Stephen Colbert has been following that advice to the letter.
Though an Irish heritage is not necessary to be honored with the award, which emcee J.J. Abrams will present, Colbert actually does check that particular box, in spite of the Francophile pronunciation of his last name.
As Colbert noted in a statement: “My great-great grandfather sailed from Limerick with but two goals: 1) get a job digging the Erie Canal, and; 2) party in L.A. I am proud to fulfill his dream.”