Sexiest Man Alive honors[126] and in the December 2006 issue of GQ he was named one of GQ's "Men of the Year".[127] He was nominated for a TCA Award for The Colbert Report by the Television Critics Association in 2006 and also received two Peabody Awards for

s" won by a five-to-one margin.[120]


Colbert at Knox College
In June 2006, after speaking at the school's commencement ceremony, Colbert received an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts degree from Knox College.[121] Time named Stephen Colbert as one of the 100 most influential people in 2006 and 2012[11][12] and in May 2006, New York magazine listed Colbert (and Jon Stewart) as one of its top dozen influential persons in media.[122] Colbert was named Person of the Year by the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado on March 3, 2007[123] and was also given the Speaker of the Year Award by The Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) on March 24, 2007 for his "drive to expose the rhetorical shortcomings of contemporary political discourse".[124]
Colbert was named the 2nd Sexiest TV News Anchor in September 2006 by Maxim Online, next to Mélissa Theuriau of France and was the only man featured on the list.[125] In November 2006, he was named a "sexy surprise" by People in the Sexiest Man Alive honors[126] and in the December 2006 issue of GQ he was named one of GQ's "Men of the Year".[127]
He was nominated for a TCA Award for The Colbert Report by the Television Critics Association in 2006 and also received two Peabody Awards for his work on The Daily Show: Indecision 2000 and Indecision 2004. In February 2007, Ben & Jerry's unveiled a new ice cream flavor in honor of Colbert, named Stephen Colbert's AmeriCone Dream. Colbert waited until Easter to sample the ice cream because he "gave up sweets for Lent".[128] Colbert will donate all proceeds to charity through the new Stephen Colbert AmeriCone Dream Fund, which will distribute the money to various causes.[129]
After the Saginaw Spirit defeated the Oshawa Generals in Ontario Junior League Hockey, Oshawa Mayor John Gray declared March 20, 2007 (the mayor's own birthday) Stephen Colbert Day, honoring a previous bet with Stephen. At the event, Mayor Gray referred to the publicity the bet brought the city, remarking, "This is the way to lose a bet".[130]
Colbert was honored for the Gutsiest Move on the Spike TV Guys' Choice Awards on June 13, 2007 for his performance at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.[131] In August 2007, Virgin America named an airplane. "Air Colbert", in his honor.[132] On October 28, 2007, Colbert received the key to the city of Columbia, South Carolina from Mayor Bob Coble.[133]
In 2007 a species of trapdoor spider was named Aptostichus stephencolberti after Colbert.[134] The spider was discovered on the California coastline in 2007.[135] The spider was named after Colbert after he reported on his television series that Jason Bond, a professor of biology at East Carolina University, named a different species of spider Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi, after the Canadian rock star Neil Young and he began to appeal for a species of animal to be named after him.[136] On a later edition of The Colbert Report, Colbert revealed that Bond would name a spider after him, with Colbert claiming, "And all I had to do was shamelessly beg on national television."[137]
On December 20, 2007, Colbert was named Celebrity