1. The in-character version of Stephen Colbert said goodbye last night on the last edition of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central before the comedian moves to CBS to take over the Late Show after David Letterman’s retirement. A star-studded singalong and messages from celebrities sent the show off.
#Farewell @StephenAtHome...But I know we'll meet again some sunny day. Your friend, PrezBillyJeff
— Bill Clinton (@billclinton) December 19, 2014
2. Embattled Sony Pictures Entertainment executive Amy Pascal met with prominent black leaders in New York City on Thursday to quell outrage over racially insensitive emails sent by her and other company heavyweights joking about President Obama’s preferences in films.
Another result of the cyberattack against Sony: entertainment moguls are picking up the phone again.
Very pointed and blunt exchange w/ Amy Pascal in our 90 min meeting. Hollywood needs to change. Her leaked e mails show a cultural blindness
— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) December 18, 2014
3. The New York Times is doing away with its long-running advertising column with the departure of Stuart Elliott, according to the New York Post. The newspaper veteran said earlier this month that he’s taking a buyout.
Here's ad-man @stuartenyt's NYT farewell page. Loved working w/these guys. I'll miss them & the Times'll miss them. pic.twitter.com/6xyw2tukEd
— Stephanie Clifford (@stephcliff) December 17, 2014
4. Yahoo said Thursday that it will cease printing and selling images uploaded to Flickr after users of the service complained that the company was profiting from their work without sharing the wealth. Meanwhile, Instagram purged millions of "ghost accounts" this week.
Instagram deletes millions of accounts in spam purge (rapper Akon lost half his followers) http://t.co/1Em8t3Vj2O pic.twitter.com/A2lyDUNGGY
— BBC Trending (@BBCtrending) December 19, 2014
5. Uber said late Thursday that it will shut down in Portland, Oregon, for 90 days while the city sorts out rules that will allow it to operate there. City officials had filed a suit to force the ride service from operating in Portland.