During his monologue on Tuesday’s “The Late Show,” Stephen Colbert had quite a bit of fun talking about some pretty fun news out of New Zealand. And it resulted in a joke about orgies using footage from Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
So the inspiration for this joke is a quote from the Prime Minister of New Zealand that was taken slightly out of context by everyone who watched it, for reasons that will quickly become clear. On Monday, PM Jacinda Ardern appeared on a local news program to discuss the country’s new “traffic” light system, which basically provides guidance about how many people can gather under certain circumstances, or how many other people individuals should be socializing with.
One of the anchors asked her about dating, to which Ardern said, “I can confirm that the connections on Tinder are open again.” This sparked some silly jokes by the morning news people. But then, Ardern went a bit further to explain things. “It’s not strictly embedded in the traffic light system,” she said. “But it is a given up to 25, actually, in a red area.”
Now she was actually talking about how in the highest concern areas, gatherings are limited to a max of 25 people, though she was also clearly amused by the situation under which she was explaining it. But the international press reported this as if she was saying that orgies of up to 25 people were approved under the new system. (As far as we can tell, orgies aren’t addressed one way or the other.)
Anyway, back to Colbert, who used it as comedy fodder. “I’m guessing if you have 25 people at your sex party, there’s gonna be more than a few red areas,” he joked.
Then he mentioned reports that “orgy groups” in New Zealand “are already rejoicing,” and said he had footage to prove it. Cut to one of the scenes from the end of “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King,” when Frodo is greeted by his friends after recovering from his injuries.
See, Frodo is in a bed, and all his friends rush in to greet him, with two of them leaping into bed with him while two others look on, proudly and with much affection.
Watch the whole thing below.