Uber CEO gets yelled at by members of Colbert's audience

With guests like Kalanick and Elon Musk, Colbert is already becoming appointment TV for techies

Just three episodes into his new late night talk show, and Stephen Colbert is already generating big headlines in the tech world.

The former Colbert Report host has already had two of the biggest names in tech on his show, with each of them making something of a splash, though one of them kind of had it done to him, rather than because of anything he said.

The big news on Thursday was that Colbert's guest, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, encountered protestors inside the studio, according to reporters from Business Insider who were at the taping.

Rather than be yelled at by people outside the studio, it was actually a member of the audience, who accused the entreprenuer of trying to destroy the New York City taxi industry. The man, who was seated in the upper balcony, started shouting and was actually allowed, by Colbert, to speak his mind.

(Maybe it was because he was up high, but I would have loved to have seen him pull a Bill Maher and personally throw the guy out, but that's just me)

In fact Colbert is said to have sympathized with the protester, telling him tjhat he had a question about that topic already lined up. 

Kalanick also responsed, telling the protestor that Uber actually pays taxi driver better than regular cabs, and that is offers them more flexible hours. No word on if he mentioned that those drivers are not employees of the company, and therefore get no benefits. 

There was also a second similar incident (no word on if it was same guy) who also started shouting, accusing Kalanick of being a liar. See, Colbert, that's why you don't let it happen once, because it will just keep happening. 

Colbert is also said to have apologized for those outbursts, excusing them because of the "passion" that surrounds the issue in New York City (and everywhere else, to be honest). 

The other guest on the show on Thursday was this guy you may have heard of. His name is Joe Biden, and he likes to talk. A lot. So his interview is said to have gone long, which means that the hecklers may be lost to editing (hopefully they do a better job than they did with the Jeb Bush interview on Tuesday, because, that was really bad.) Hopefully not, though, because that will be some good TV.

The other big tech name to appear on the show was Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, a.k.a. the real life Iron Man, who said, and I am not kidding, that he wants to drop a nuclear bomb on Mars.

To put that statement into some context, Musk and Colbert started the conversation talking about some innovations at Tesla, before transitioning to Musk's dream to make Mars a habitable planet.

"How long before we can turn Mars into some place that we can live?" Colbert asked.

"You'd warm it up," Musk replied, before noting that there were two ways this could be done: the fast way or the slow way.

The fast way is, yes, "drop thermonuclear weapons over the poles." And to that Colbert said that we were all thinking: "You're a super villian."

 You can see part of the interview below. The part about going to Mars starts at 1:38. 

With his first week being full of big name political guests, along with these entrepreneurs, Colbert has already seemed to carve out a niche for himself, getting the chance to question some of the most important and influential people on the planet. 

If he keeps this up, and he can keep getting guests on the level of Musk and Kalanick, the show might just become appointment viewing for anyone interested in tech.

VatorNews has reached out to Uber for comment on the incident.

(Image source: siliconprairienews.com)