Colbert Says CBS Refused To Air His Interview With Democrat Candidate Fearing FCC Blowback [View all]

Source: Forbes

Late Show host Stephen Colbert on Monday said CBS refused to air his interview with James Talarico, the Democratic Senate candidate from Texas, due to the Federal Communications Commission’s recent decision to enforce its “equal time” mandate on talk shows.

During a segment of his show on Monday night, Colbert told the audience Talarico was “supposed to be here” as a guest on the show, but CBS’s lawyers told the Late Show team “in no uncertain terms…that we could not have him on the broadcast.”

Colbert said the network’s lawyers also told him he was not allowed to mention this issue on air, before adding: “because my network clearly doesn't want us to talk about this, let's talk about this.”

The comedian then explained the FCC’s “equal time” rule—which requires broadcast networks to provide equal air time to opposing political candidates—and pointed out a “long time exception” that applied to news interviews and talk show interviews.

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/02/17/colbert-says-cbs-refused-to-air-his-interview-with-democrat-candidate-fearing-fcc-blowback/