Stephen Colbert has accused network CBS of blocking his interview with a Democrat politician, due to fears of retaliation from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a branch of the Trump Administration.
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert was due to air the host’s interview with lawmaker James Talarico on its Monday (February 16) edition. However, the discussion was shared on the show’s YouTube channel instead, with the host accusing his network of preventing the segment from airing on TV over concerns of backlash.
“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,” he said. “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.”
On Tuesday, CBS released a statement refuting Colbert’s claims. “The Late Show was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep James Talarico,” the statement read. “The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates… and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled.”
The statement continued: “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.”
The equal time-rule requires that any interview with a politician from one party be balanced by an interview from a political opponent of equal length. However, on Tuesday’s (February 17) edition of The Late Show, Colbert explained that traditionally that guidance did not apply to talk show interviews.
“Here’s what happened, folks” the host said in his explanation of events. “Last night I talked to Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, but, it wasn’t on the show. We put the interview on our YouTube channel because of something called the equal time rule, and that rule says that if a show, on broadcast television has a qualified candidate on during an election, they have to offer equal time to all that candidate’s opponents. It’s a pretty famous rule, but here’s the thing, there has long been a very famous exception to that rule, and that exception included talk shows’ interviews with politicians.”
He continued: “We looked, and we can’t find one example of this rule being enforced for any talk show interview, not only for my entire late night career, but for anyone’s late night career going back to the 1960s. But on January 21, we heard from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr… he issued a letter saying he was thinking about getting rid of that talk show exception. He had not gotten rid of it yet, but CBS generously did it for him and told me unilaterally that I had to abide by the equal time rules, something I have never been asked to do for an interview in the 21 years of this job. Now that decision, I’ll be clear, is their right, just like I have the right to talk about their decision on air.”
Colbert concluded that: “For the record, I’m not even mad. I really don’t want an adversarial relationship with the network. I’ve never had one. As I said last night in my interview with James Tallarico — check it out, it’s on YouTube, it’s pretty good — I am grateful to have worked for CBS for the last 11 years… I’m just so surprised that this giant global corporation would not stand up to these bullies.”
Last July, Stephen Colbert confirmed his late night show would be ending in May 2026. While network CBS cited financial losses as a reason for the cancellation, many onlookers claimed it was a move designed to appease US President Donald Trump, ahead of approval of a merger involving CBS’ parent company Paramount.
Trump commented that he “loved” hearing that Colbert’s show was being cancelled, while Colbert told the President to “go fuck yourself”, in a monologue shortly after.
Fellow late night host Jimmy Kimmel, an ardent critic of Trump, was suspended by network ABC last September following his comments about the murder of conservative influencer Donald Trump. The move was criticised as an act of “censorship” by many in the entertainment industry, leading to over 550 artists teaming up to revive the Committee For The First Amendment, a group formed in the late 1940s that opposed suppression of free speech.
Kimmel later returned to his show, clarifying that he never intended to “make light” of the murder, but stopped short of apologising for his comments.