Washington: Late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert was not allowed to air an interview with a Democratic political candidate because his network, CBS, feared it could contravene the Trump administration’s latest push to enforce political neutrality on late-night television.
Colbert interviewed Texas politician James Talarico – a member of the state House of Representatives who is running for a federal Senate seat – but announced that the interview would only be available on YouTube on the advice of CBS’s lawyers.
“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 at the start of his show.
“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.”
In Colbert’s telling, CBS feared that airing the interview on broadcast television would breach the “equal time rule” – a provision of the Communications Act that requires networks to give equal time to legally qualified candidates standing for office.
The rarely enforced rule carries exemptions for bona fide news coverage, which, since at least 2006, have been understood to include daytime and late-night talk shows, which remain a staple of American broadcast TV.
But last month, the Federal Communications Commission warned networks that it did not believe talk shows should enjoy that exemption.
“The FCC has not been presented with any evidence that the interview portion of any late-night or daytime television talk show program on air presently would qualify for the bona fide news exemption,” the FCC told networks in a letter.
The missive also said the exemption would not apply to “a program that is motivated by partisan purposes”.
Throughout his first year back in the White House, President Donald Trump has repeatedly raged about his treatment on late-night television – which he regularly watches – and has argued these talk shows should be subject to broadcast TV rules about political neutrality. He has also repeatedly threatened that networks could lose their licences for failure to comply.
On Christmas Eve, Trump posted on social media that Colbert was “a pathetic trainwreck, with no talent or anything else necessary for show business success”, and said CBS should “put him to sleep NOW”. Colbert is leaving the network in May.
Trump’s appointee to run the FCC, Brendan Carr, has shown himself willing to enforce the president’s agenda. Last year, he threatened compliance action against networks airing Jimmy Kimmel Live, following Kimmel’s remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and ABC (America) temporarily suspended Kimmel’s show.
Carr has defended his push to enforce the equal time rule on late-night talk shows, saying that if Kimmel and Colbert didn’t want to comply with the rules, they could switch to a cable network or streaming, where public interest requirements for broadcast television don’t apply.
“This is a law that goes back all the way to the 1950s … On my watch, we’re going to enforce this regulation,” Carr told Fox News earlier this month.
The FCC has reportedly launched an investigation into whether ABC daytime talk show The View breached the equal time rule by broadcasting an interview with Talarico.
FCC commissioner Anna Gomez, a Democratic appointee, called the investigation a “sham” and said its real purpose was to intimidate perceived critics of the administration and chill free speech.
Gomez also criticised what she called “corporate capitulation” by CBS in relation to Colbert. “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.”
CBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gomez noted the network’s parent company, Paramount Skydance, has business before the federal government. Paramount is bidding against Netflix to buy Warner Bros Discovery in what would be one of the biggest media deals of all time. On Tuesday (Washington time), Warner Bros said it was restarting talks with Paramount.
On Monday night’s episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, after explaining the decision to cut the Talarico interview, Colbert took direct aim at Carr – particularly over his assertion that late-night shows were motivated by partisan purposes.
“You’re chairman of the FCC, so: FCC you,” Colbert said. “I think you are motivated by partisan purposes yourself. Sir, ya smelt it ’cos ya dealt it. You are Dutch oven-ing America’s airwaves.”
Talarico is considered a rising star in Democratic politics but faces a significant challenge overcoming nearly 30 years of Republican domination in Texas, which has not sent a Democratic senator to Washington since 1988.
However, the results of a special election for a state-level Texas Senate seat in January have buoyed Democrats’ hopes. Aircraft mechanic and union leader Taylor Rehmet defeated his Republican rival by 14 points in an area Trump had won by 14 points in the 2024 presidential election.
Asked about the attention his media appearances were receiving from the FCC, Talarico told Colbert: “I think that Donald Trump is worried that we’re about to flip Texas.”
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Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X or email.