You can’t force the next “We Are the World” — especially if no atrocity actually occurred.
That’s a lesson Stephen Colbert learned Monday, when the surging “Late Show” host attempted to assemble an all-star tribute to Sweden. Unfortunately, since no terrorist attack actually happened on Friday in Mother Svea — regardless of what our POTUS might tell you — everyone declined. Some were more polite than others.
That shredded call sheet aspired to include Bruce Springsteen and Beyonce, among other top singers. Taylor Swift even faked kidney failure to get out of it, writers for the CBS show quipped.
Perhaps the most shocking “pass” came from noted Republican Vince Vaughn, who “surprisingly also said no,” according to the skit’s lower-third.
The still-running Sweden joke came to be after President Trump suggested something awful had just happened in the Nordic nation during a Saturday address. Fortunately, that turned about to be what one might call “fake news,” and he pinned the error on Fox News Channel.
Watch the video above, and be content that all is well with our friends across the sea. At least, those friends across the sea.