Triumph The Insult Comic Dog was detained last night by Capitol Police
Robert Smigel and 8 staffers for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert were reportedly arrested at the Capitol Building last night
![Triumph The Insult Comic Dog was detained last night by Capitol Police](https://img.pastemagazine.com/wp-content/avuploads/2022/06/15012308/199b87692a575f1be89cf6a9c5eb8ee1.jpg)
Presenting what we can only assume was a clear misunderstanding operating at the intersection of politics, safety, and entertainment (for us to poop on), comedian Robert Smigel and several other staffers of CBS’s Late Show With Stephen Colbert were reportedly detained last night while filming a Triumph The Insult Comic Dog segment at the U.S. Capitol.
Variety reports that Smigel—who’s voiced and operated the foul-mouthed puppet for the last 25 years, across a number of late-night appearances—and the rest of the crew were detained while they were filming a few final scenes after a day of what’s being reported as authorized shooting at the Capitol for Colbert’s show. CBS has issued a statement about the incident:
On Wednesday, June 15 and Thursday, June 16, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog was on-site at the Capitol with a production team to record interviews for a comedy segment on behalf of The Late Show. Their interviews at the Capitol were authorized and pre-arranged through Congressional aides of the members interviewed. After leaving the members’ offices on their last interview of the day, the production team stayed to film stand-ups and other final comedy elements in the halls when they were detained by Capitol Police.
Security at the Capitol Building has been significantly heightened for the last, let’s say, 527 or so days. According to Fox News’ Chad Pergram, nine staffers on the show, including Smigel, were apparently arrested for unlawful entry and released overnight last night after a complaint was made about their presence. They were reportedly seen filming near the offices of California’s Kevin McCarthy and Colorado’s Lauren Boebert, about whom we’re sure Triumph would have nothing but cordial things to say.
Capitol Police claim they had previously asked the crew to leave the Capitol earlier in the day; CBS contends the comedians had authorization to be present.