Before we get into all of this, let's back up and get everyone caught up: Daft Punk was announced to be on The Colbert Report's Colbchella festival last week, but during the broadcast it was revealed that due to contract restrictions between MTV and Viacom, Daft Punk could not appear because they'd agreed to appear at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. Stephen Colbert went on to berate MTV executives, danced with celebrities to "Get Lucky," and had Robin Thicke perform "Blurred Lines" in place of the supposed "Get Lucky" performance. We then found out that the debate over their appearance had been heated, and that the Robin Thicke performance was taped a week prior to the broadcast.
All caught up? Good.
Yesterday, Daily Show writer Paul Mercurio had Stephen Colbert on his podcast, where Colbert put his foot down, saying that this wasn't a promotional stunt or a ruse. He confirmed that MTV was the ones who pulled the plug on Daft Punk, and that Robin Thicke's performance had been taped earlier. He also said that he didn't get into trouble for shitting on MTV, Viacom, or anyone else. The gag on the show (apparently) was "to perform a six-minute monologue while Daft Punk nodded alongside him and he tried to enlist their manager for a speaking appearance, while also riffing on the fact that they refused to perform." Interesting enough, Jesse Ignjatovic, who is the executive producer of the VMAs, gave The Hollywood Reporter an interesting quote on this situation:
"We don't put restrictions on anyone. I just think that we're talking to them about a moment and then things sort of change. I would not describe that as MTV putting restrictions on people -- it was up to that artist and their management what they wanted to do."
So, ultimately, it looks like Daft Punk made the call, probably in an effort to make their MTV VMAs appearance more memorable, although that wouldn't explain why Colbert would hype their appearance multiple times on the show. It could have looked like he was shitting on MTV, but this only makes more people want to watch the program, right? Did we get any closer to the truth? Who knows. You bored of this, yet?
