Daft Punk Cancels ‘Colbert Show’ Appearance Because of MTV Conflict

Chad Batka for The New York Times Daft Punk.

Stephen Colbert and his viewers learned the hard way on Tuesday night that MTV’s Video Music Awards are still a force in television and the music industry that is not to be trifled with.

“The Colbert Report” had advertised with fanfare that Daft Punk, the elusive French D.J. duo, would appear on its annual music show. The booking was a coup, since Daft Punk’s media appearances are very rare, and also demonstrated the cachet that Mr. Colbert and his show have acquired. Even the night before, it seemed, everything appeared to be on track. “Stephest Colbchella ’013 starts tomorrow 8/6 with Daft Punk!” Mr. Colbert tweeted late Monday.

But as revealed on the show, the band canceled because of its obligations to MTV’s awards, where, Mr. Colbert seemed happy to note, Daft Punk was set to make a “surprise” appearance on Aug. 25.

“We booked Click and Clack over here about a month ago,” Mr. Colbert said, pointing to a graphic of the group in their signature robot helmets. “But there was a problem.”

Instead of Daft Punk’s appearance, Colbchella featured an elaborate dance number set to the group’s hit song, “Get Lucky,” featuring Mr. Colbert dancing alongside Hugh Laurie, Bryan Cranston, Jeff Bridges, Jimmy Fallon, the Rockettes and even Henry A. Kissinger (who sat perplexed at his desk, then called security).

The segment, and Mr. Colbert’s explanation of it, were widely circulated online. But what happened behind the scenes was no joke.

According to three people who were briefed on the talks or directly involved in them, Daft Punk’s planned appearance had already been a source of stress for “Colbert” since the group was only willing to appear in costume, and not perform or sit for an interview. Then on Monday, while flying to New York from Paris, the group called producers to cancel, citing the conflict with MTV, according to these people, who spoke anonymously because of the privacy of the matter and the volatility of the personalities involved.

Some exclusivity among performers or guests is not uncommon among shows, particularly those under the same ownership. “Colbert” and “The Daily Show,” its companion program on Comedy Central, do not book the same guests, for example. But the stakes were high given Daft Punk’s visibility and the enormous popularity of “Get Lucky.”

Negotiations between MTV and Comedy Central became intense. MTV threatened to cut Daft Punk from the awards if the group also appeared on “Colbert,” and would not budge despite pleas from Comedy Central. On Tuesday’s show Mr. Colbert read an e-mail from Van Toffler, the president of MTV Networks, saying that he was “not sure I can help you on this one.” (The show’s Web site later displayed the redacted message, in which Mr. Toffler said that the band and its label had “sold us hard on some clip and live appearance based on them not showing up anywhere else.”) Viacom executives declined to interfere in the dispute, these people said, but Columbia Records, Daft Punk’s American label, got involved, advising the group not to risk its appearance on MTV.

Spokespeople for Viacom and MTV declined to comment. Mr. Toffler did not respond to an e-mail on Wednesday afternoon.

For Daft Punk, or any other act, a successful appearance on the Video Music Awards can be valuable promotion. The 2011 awards â€" featuring Kanye West, Jay Z, Beyoncé and Lady Gaga dressed as her male alter ego, Joe Calderone â€" drew a record 12.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen. But last year, when the show was moved from Sunday to Thursday, the awards had their lowest ratings since 2007, with 6.1 million.

This year’s awards will be broadcast from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, again on a Sunday.