The Stephen Colbert/Daft Punk drama (which we reported on last week) continues this week with new comments to The Hollywood Reporter from MTV/VMA producer Jesse Ignjatovic, who claims that the network did not restrict Daft Punk from appearing on The Colbert Report, but rather the eclectic duo declined on their own.
In a statement to the publication, Ignjatovic said, “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.”
In case you’re not familiar. Daft Punk was scheduled to appear on Stephen Colbert’s ‘Stephest Colbchella’, but backed out the day before, allegedly due to obligations to MTVs VMAs. Colbert was forced to change the show on the fly, eventually surprising viewers with Robin Thicke as a replacement.
Colbert also recently talked about the challenges of booking Daft Punk with Paul Mercurio, explaining that before they cancelled, Daft Punk refused to perform or speak, leaving Colbert with an interesting challenge. Apparently, the big joke was to be Colbert performing a monologue next to Daft Punk, who would silently nod along. Colbert would then ask their manager, “How do I know it’s them?”