“Late Show” host Stephen Colbert said CBS did not air his Monday interview with Texas state Rep. James Talarico out of fear of the Federal Communications Commission.
Colbert kicked off Monday night's show by almost immediately mentioning Talarico's absence.
“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,” Colbert said. “Then, 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.”
“The Late Show” published the unaired interview with Talarico on YouTube. In the interview, Colbert and Talarico, who is running for the U.S. Senate, discuss the FCC crackdown, including opening a probe into ABC’s “The View,” after Talarico appeared on the show.
“I think that Donald Trump is worried that we’re about to flip Texas,” Talarico said, which was met with audience applause. “This is the party that ran against cancel culture, and now they’re 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.”
Talarico accused the Trump administration of “selling out the First Amendment to curry favor with corrupt politicians.”
“A threat to any of our First Amendment rights is a threat to all of our First Amendment rights.”
In an emailed statement, 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.”
In a statement, the White House defended the FCC. “Stephen Colbert is a pathetic trainwreck with no talent and terrible ratings, which is exactly why CBS canceled his show and is booting him off the airwaves," White House spokesman Davis Ingle said. "FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is simply doing his job and enforcing the rules.”
At a political event Tuesday night in Austin, hundreds of supporters burst into applause and cheers when Talarico opened his rally by referring to the Colbert interview.
“Trump’s FCC colluded with corporate media executives at CBS to keep that interview off the air, and I think it’s safe to say that their plan backfired,” Talarico said to a packed event room on the first day of early voting ahead of the March 3 primary.
Talarico’s rival in the Texas Senate Democratic primary, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, appeared on Colbert’s show in May.
CBS' move to not air the segment comes as the FCC, the government's media regulator, and most notably its chairman, Brendan Carr, have been particularly combative with networks that have drawn the ire of the president.
Trump has for months suggested the FCC could revoke the licenses of television broadcasters. More recently, Carr, who was appointed by Trump to lead the FCC, has said that daytime and late-night TV talk shows must comply with the equal time rule regarding political candidates.
The FCC's equal time rule prohibits radio and broadcast channels from hosting political candidates during an election without giving airtime to their opponents. During his show Monday, Colbert highlighted that news interviews and talk show interviews with politicians are exceptions.
On Jan. 21, Carr released a letter warning networks about the rule, saying that he is considering eliminating exceptions due to the networks' potential partisan motivations.
Colbert fired back at Carr on Monday, accusing the chairman of being motivated by partisan purposes.
"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 joked.
In a statement, FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez called Monday's incident "another troubling example of corporate capitulation in the face of this Administration's broader campaign to censor and control speech."
"The FCC has no lawful authority to pressure broadcasters for political purposes or to create a climate that chills free expression," Gomez, the lone Democratic commissioner, said in the statement. "CBS is fully protected under the First Amendment to determine what interviews it airs, which makes its decision to yield to political pressure all the more disappointing."
This comes months after ABC pulled “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air "indefinitely" after Carr criticized comments the host made about the assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Kimmel accused "the MAGA Gang" of trying to "score political points" by characterizing the suspect "as anything other than one of them."
Kimmel's show was pulled a couple of days later and returned to the air after about a week.
In July, CBS announced that Colbert's show would come to an end in 2026, calling it “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”
“It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount," CBS executives said in a joint statement.
The host has been a frequent critic of the Trump administration.
