Stephen Colbert went public Monday night with shocking accusations against his network. CBS lawyers preemptively bowed to FCC pressure over the network’s push to apply “equal time” rules to its late-night talk shows, blocking the broadcast of an interview with Texas congressman James Talarico, who is running for the U.S. Senate.
Colbert said the network’s legal team called “The Late Show” staff directly and told them “in no uncertain terms” that the interview could not be aired. Additionally, they were instructed not to address the issue on air. Then he started doing the exact opposite.
While educating viewers about the FCC’s “equal time” rule, which requires broadcast networks to provide equal airtime to opposing political candidates, Colbert noted that talk shows have long benefited from exemptions from that requirement. “There has been an exception to this rule for a long time, and that was news interviews and talk show interviews with politicians,” he said. “That’s extremely important. How else could voters have known in 1992 that Bill Clinton wasn’t good at the saxophone?”
The hosts expressed particular disdain for a Jan. 21 letter that described FCC Chairman Brendan Carr as a “self-righteous bowling pin” and suggested that exemptions should no longer apply to programs that Carr characterized as “motivated by partisan objectives.” Colbert directly called out Trump-appointed regulators, saying, “Feel free to FCC you…because I think you yourself are motivated by partisan purposes, sir. Hey, you stink for handling it. You guys are stirring up American airwaves Dutch style.”
Mr. Colbert also pointed to a glaring contradiction in Mr. Carr’s approach, noting that while the FCC chairman targeted late-night talk shows, he made it clear that right-wing talk radio would not be subject to equal time notice. “I understand this part,” Colbert said. “You can’t get rid of talk radio. What else would the angriest uncle in traffic do? Talk to the saddest aunt?”
Importantly, Mr. Colbert noted that Mr. Carr had not yet formally repealed the exemption and had made the decision to act as if CBS had a unilateral exemption in place. “He hasn’t eliminated it yet, but my network is unilaterally forcing it as if he has eliminated it,” he said. Amid boos from the studio audience, Colbert sarcastically explained the network’s stance, saying the decision was made for “purely economic reasons,” sarcastically repeating the rationale CBS cited when canceling “The Late Show.”
Colbert placed the FCC’s move within a broader pattern of political pressure. “Let’s call it what it is: Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence people who say bad things about Trump on TV, because all Trump does is watch TV. He’s like a toddler who watches too much TV. He sulks and then drops the load in his diaper. So it’s no surprise that the two people most affected by this threat are me and my friend Jimmy Kimmel.” Mr. Kimmel has also publicly pushed back against the proposed rule change.
When Mr. Kerr suggested that hosts who didn’t comply could move to “a cable channel or a podcast or a streaming service,” Mr. Colbert said, deflated: “That’s a great idea. The guy whose job it is to regulate broadcast television suggests that we all leave broadcast television. It’s like when Arby’s changed its slogan to ‘Arby’s, would you die from a salad?'”
He then announced that he would interview Talarico anyway, but not on the CBS broadcast. The conversation was scheduled to air on “The Late Show” YouTube channel after the show, but Colbert pointed out that the network doesn’t allow him to share URLs or QR codes that direct viewers there.
This restriction did not just prohibit the interview itself. Colbert revealed that he was prohibited from releasing any images of Talarico, including photographs or even drawings, under FCC rules that prohibit appearances by candidates “by voice or picture.” He showed the show a stock photo he found by Googling “not James Tallarico” and held up a painting he claimed he couldn’t confirm for legal reasons to resemble the candidate, but which turned out to resemble Snoopy.
