However, as Colbert himself said on last night's episode, "Who would've thought a means of communication limited to 140 characters would ever create misunderstandings?"

The episode begins with the 49-year-old star dreaming that his show is canceled before he wakes up from the nightmare and declares, "We almost lost me. I'm never going to take me for granted ever again …the interweb tried to swallow me whole but I am proud to say that I got lodged in its throat and it hacked me back up like a hastily-chewed chicken wing."

Colbert reiterated that the tweet did not come from his own Twitter handle @StephenAtHome, but rather "the brain trust over at my network" Comedy Central (he did the same via his personal social media page on Friday) and admitted he "understood how people were offended" when he saw the tweet with no context.

The comedian also assured the audience that he "is not a racist," saying, "I don't even see race. Not even my own. People tell me I'm white and I believe them because I just devoted six minutes explaining why I'm not a racist."