Stephen Colbert Defies CBS, Says Network Banned Him From Interviewing James Talarico On ‘The Late Show’
'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' YouTube
UPDATED: At the top of his monologue tonight, Stephen Colbert introduced the Late Show band, announced guest Jennifer Garner and then asked the audience, “You know who is not one of my guests tonight?”
The CBS host then answered his own question.
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“That’s Texas state representative James Talarico. He 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.
“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 does not want us to talk about this…Let’s talk about this.”
The Late Night host went on to explain FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s new guidance on the “equal time” rule, which requires broadcasters who feature qualified political candidates on their airwaves provide time to rivals, if requested.
Deadline has reached out to CBS for comment and this post will be updated when it is received.
Traditionally, news content has been exempted from the equal time rule and, in recent decades, stations have assumed that it has applied as well as to daytime and late-night talk shows, like The View and Jimmy Kimmel Live, which have featured presidential and other candidates, including figures like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
New FCC guidance, though, signaled to those talk shows that they no longer should believe that they would fall under the so-called “bonafide news” exemption. Carr said that a determination on whether a show is exempt would come down to a number of factors, including whether there was a “partisan motivation” in featuring a political candidate as a guest. “If you’re fake news, you’re not going to qualify for the bona fide news exemption,” said Carr.
Colbert observed tonight, “It’s no surprise that two of the people most affected by this threat are me and my friend Jimmy Kimmel.”
Carr himself mentioned the duo in his recent comments, a clip of which Colbert played.
“If Kimmel or Colbert want to continue to do their programming,” said Carr, “and they don’t want to have to comply with this requirement, then they can go to a cable channel or a podcast or a streaming service and that’s fine.” The equal time rule applies only to broadcast and not to other distribution, which are generally outside of the FCC’s oversight.
Colbert then said he was following Carr’s advice and posting the entirety of his Talarico interview on YouTube. You can watch it below.
Per Fox News, the FCC is investigating ABC News’ The View for featuring Talarico as a guest earlier this month, after it issued the new guidance. The show did feature Talarico’s main rival for the Democratic primary, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX). Another Democrat, Ahmad Hassan, also is running for the nomination. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) are challenging Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in the GOP primary, but that is a separate ballot.
Talarico posted the YouTube interview on X, writing, “This is the interview Donald Trump didn’t want you to see. His FCC refused to air my interview with Stephen Colbert. Trump is worried we’re about to flip Texas.” Per Colbert, the CBS lawyers ordered him not to air the interview, apparently out of concern over the FCC restrictions.
During his Colbert interview, Talarico said, “This is the party that ran against cancel culture, and now they are trying to control what we watch, what we say, what we read. And this is the most dangerous kind of cancel culture, the kind that comes from the top. They went after The View because I went on there. They went after Jimmy Kimmel for telling a joke they didn’t like. They went after you for telling the truth about Paramount’s bribe to Donald Trump.”
The sole Democrat on the FCC, Anna Gomez, has blasted Carr for his latest equal time guidance, saying it is an effort to pressure broadcasters and not even a “legitimate investigation.” She said of The View investigation, “The real purpose is to weaponize the FCC’s regulatory authority to intimidate perceived critics of this Administration and chill protected speech. That is not how a free society operates.”
Carr has acknowledged that the equal time rule also applies to radio, meaning that conservative talk shows that dominate many station airwaves also would face restrictions if they feature candidates.
Broadcast talk shows have operated under the assumption that they are exempt from the rules since at least 2006, when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as he was running for reelection. His Democratic challenger, Phil Angelides, sought equal time, but the FCC ruled that the late night show fell under the exemption.
While the networks could challenge the FCC’s latest guidance, given the agency’s past history of not enforcing the equal time rule on talk shows, CBS parent Paramount made concessions to the FCC as part of its merger with Skydance last year. Among other things, it agreed to install an ombudsman “who will receive and evaluate any complaints of bias or other concerns involving CBS.” The person hired, Kenneth Weinstein, has his own ideological point of view, having formerly led the conservative think tank Hudson Institute.
As they sought to close the Skydance transaction, Paramount’s previous owners settled Trump’s lawsuit against the CBS for $16 million. Trump sued them over the way that 60 Minutes edited an interview with Kamala Harris, in litigation that CBS attorneys had previously called baseless.
Paramount currently is seeking to purchase all of Warner Bros. Discovery. Even though that transaction will not come under FCC review, Paramount executive believe they have an easier regulatory review process with the Trump administration Justice Department than Netflix’s deal with Warner Bros. for studio and streaming assets. Netflix has a deal in place with Warner Bros., but WBD on Monday announced that it is entering deal talks with Paramount following a sweetened offer.
Ted Johnson contributed to this report.
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