Stephen Colbert calls out John Oliver’s suddenly gray hair: ‘You’re decaying’

Never debut a new look at “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” A more salt than pepper John Oliver learned that important lesson on Monday night.

“I know your work is incredibly hard, because look at what it’s doing to you,” Colbert greeted his suddenly gray guest. “You’re decaying. You’re decaying before our very eyes.”

“You had jet-black hair the last time I saw you,” the CBS host continued. “You looked like you were in a K-Pop band the last time I saw you.”

That latter punchline is a callback to Oliver’s opening joke of the panel segment. The entire visit between the two who got their start at Comedy Central’s “Daily Show” is worth a watch.

“The key thing with decaying is not to start from a particularly attractive point,” Oliver quipped back. “That really knocks the edge off.”

“When you just salt-and-pepper this up a bit, [people] go, ‘Oh, I guess he’s just more tired than he was before,'” the HBO personality continued. “‘He always seemed exhausted, even when he had no reason to be.'”

Colbert tried to make things OK between the two friends, saying Oliver looks “very distinguished.” Sure.

Watch the video above.

Season 6 of Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” starts Sunday at 11/10c on HBO.

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