Paulina Porizkova Named Stephen Colbert Her Hall Pass Years Ago, and He Still Flexes It

Some compliments never get old—and Stephen Colbert has the receipts to prove it.

The 62-year-old late-night personality recently revisited a moment that clearly still brings him joy: the time supermodel Paulina Porizkova, 61, named him her“hall pass”in a 2007 appearance on Good Morning America. It wasn’t just a throwaway comment, either. When the topic came up during a recent dinner with friends on his“Strike Force Five”podcast, Colbert pulled out his phone and showed everyone proof via the People magazine app that Porizkova had actually said it. Talk about keeping receipts.

Back in 2007, Porizkova didn’t hold back with her compliments.“If it wasn’t for the fact that I’m already very happily married and so is he, apparently, [but] he’s just my kind of guy,”she gushed.“He’s so hot!”Those words clearly stuck with Colbert—so much so that he addressed them directly on an episode of The Colbert Report not long after, delivering a witty response comparing himself to Porizkova’s then-husband Ric Ocasek. It was the kind of playful jab that only someone genuinely amused could pull off.

What makes the story even better is how it speaks to the enduring power of a genuine compliment. Two decades later, Colbert still fondly recalls being called attractive by a world-famous model, and he’s willing to bring it up on a public podcast. Meanwhile, Porizkova has moved on—she was married to Ocasek from 1989 to 2019, and now she’s engaged to Jeff Greenstein after he proposed in July 2025. Colbert, of course, remains happily married to Evelyn“Evie”McGee-Colbert since 1993, and he’s been nothing but glowing about his wife in recent interviews, so no awkwardness here.

The real takeaway? Sometimes the best life flex isn’t a car, a house, or a fancy title—it’s being able to pull out your phone years later and say,“A supermodel called me attractive.”And doing it with enough charm and humor that everyone remembers the story. Colbert’s willingness to celebrate the compliment rather than brush it off is part of what makes him so likable. He knows it’s funny, and he’s not too cool to enjoy it.