CBS said it did not force “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” to pull an interview with Texas state Rep. James Talarico from its TV broadcast Monday, contrary to the way the late-night host had framed it. Rather, according to CBS, its legal team provided “guidance” to “The Late Show” that Talarico’s appearance could “trigger the FCC’s equal-time rule.”
In a statement Tuesday, CBS said, “‘The Late Show’ was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico. The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled. ‘The Late Show’ decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal-time options.”
On Monday’s episode of “The Late Show,” Colbert said CBS lawyers had blocked him from airing an interview with Texas state Rep. James Talarico, who is running for U.S. Senate, over the FCC’s recent warning that it would consider enforcing the agency’s “equal time” political rules for late-night and daytime talks shows. Colbert also claimed the network’s legal team told the host specifically to not to discuss the matter on air.
Talerico “was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast,” Colbert said on the show. “Then I was told — in some uncertain terms — that not only could I not have him on, I could not mention me not having him on. And because my network clearly doesn’t want us to talk about this, let’s talk about this.”
Colbert noted that “there’s long been an exception” to the equal-time rule for news interviews and talk show interviews with politicians. But he cited the warning issued in January by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, that the exemption to the rule would not apply to “partisan” broadcast programming. “Let’s just call this what it is: Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV because all Trump does is watch TV,” Colbert said. “He’s like a toddler with too much screen time. He gets cranky and then drops a load in his diapers.”
Colbert also said even though the FCC’s Carr had not officially “done away with” the equal-time rule exception yet for late-night shows, “my network is unilaterally enforcing it as if he had.” He added, “I want to assure you, ladies and gentlemen, please, I want to assure you, this decision is for purely financial reasons.”
His comment about “purely financial reasons” was a reference to CBS’s statement last year that the decision to end “The Late Show,” which will end its 11-season run in May 2026, was a “purely” financial one. The network is not planning to relaunch the late-night show with another host.
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After Monday’s episode aired on TV, “The Late Show” released Colbert’s interview with Talarico on YouTube, X, TikTok and Instagram.
On Tuesday, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the agency’s only Democratic commissioner, called the move to “censor” Colbert another example of “corporate capitulation” to the Trump administration.
From Variety US