Stephen Colbert accepts the Outstanding Talk Series Award for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” at the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2025. “The Late Show” host said CBS refused to air his Monday interview with Texas Rep. James Talarico. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
Attorneys representing CBS said The Late Show could not air an interview with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico. Host Stephen Colbert said the decision was related to the Federal Communications Commission.
Colbert announced the attorneys’ decision on Monday night and said the network prohibited him from mentioning the interview.
“Because my network clearly doesn’t want me to talk about this, let’s talk about this,” Colbert said, as reported by USA Today.
He said FCC Chairman Brendan Carr was hypocritical for saying he wants to end the FCC’s equal time exemption for television shows that air after prime time.
“[President] Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV because all Trump does is watch TV,” Colbert told his television audience.
“He’s like a toddler with too much screen time,” he continued. “He gets cranky and then drops a load in his diaper.”
Colbert said he and fellow late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel are affected the most by the FCC after Trump earlier suggested Kimmel should be fired for falsely claiming alleged Charlie Kirk killer Tyler Robinson was a supporter of the president.
Instead of airing the pre-recorded interview, Colbert’s staff posted it on YouTube because the FCC-enforced federal law requiring equal time for political candidates does not apply to online platforms.
Ahead of the YouTube interview, Colbert informed online viewers that the segment did not air on CBS because the FCC announced a pending investigation of Talarico’s recent appearance on ABC’s The View.
Talarico is a Texas state representative and is challenging Rep. Jasmine Crockett. D-Texas, and others for the Democratic Party’s nomination to run against incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz, who is a Republican, in the 2026 midterm election.
The FCC’s equal time rule requires broadcasters to provide equal air time to registered political candidates, with the only exceptions being news reports, and daytime and late-night talk shows.
Carr in January called Colbert and similar shows “fake news” and suggested they are subject to the equal time rule.
Violations of the equal time rule could lead to fines or the loss of broadcasting licenses, although offenders often are required to provide relevant political candidates with equal airtime.
