Stephen Colbert Says CBS Banned James Talarico Interview Amid FCC Crackdown

“The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert claimed Monday that CBS banned him from interviewing a Democratic Senate candidate on air amid the recent government crackdown. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Colbert said CBS lawyers told his show “in no uncertain terms” that he could not interview Texas Senate candidate James Talarico on the show and then “in uncertain terms” that he could not mention to viewers that he could not interview Talarico.

The liberal comedian linked the move to the FCC's enforcement of the old equal time rule that allows all legally qualified candidates, regardless of party, to receive equal airtime on broadcast networks. In last month's announcement, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr claimed that liberal talk shows, which had long been exempt from the rule, had been “motivated by partisan purposes.”

“Well, sir, you're the chairman of the FCC, so the FCC is you,” Colbert joked. “Because I believe that you yourself are motivated by partisan purposes.”

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“Let's 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, okay? He's like a little kid who's had too much screen time,” Colbert continued.

As Colbert later noted, Talarico's recent appearance on ABC's “The View” triggered an FCC investigation, suggesting that sparked the furor at CBS. He then revealed to his viewers that his own interview with Talarico would appear on his show's YouTube page, which is beyond the purview of the FCC.

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Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico's appearance on “The View” triggered an FCC investigation into the ABC daytime talk show. (ABC/The View)

He also made fun of how he wasn't even allowed to show Talarico's image on television, admitting that the photo he kept showing during the segment wasn't actually him.

“At this point, [Carr has] just published a letter saying that it is considering eliminating the exception for nights. He hasn't removed it yet, but my network is unilaterally enforcing it as if he has. But I want to assure you that this decision was solely due to financial reasons,” Colbert joked.

Representatives for CBS, Paramount and FCC did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.

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Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr announced last month that his agency was cracking down on the equal time rule for candidates on network television talk shows. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In an interview with Fox News Digital earlier this month, Carr shrugged off criticism from Colbert and fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who lashed out at the FCC's political push, emphasizing that the agency is enforcing a rule that “dates back to the 1950s” and that if Colbert and Kimmel don't like the law, they should urge Congress to change it.

“On my watch, we are going to enforce this regulation,” Carr said. “Today there are many ways to distribute programming that do not need to comply with this regulation. If you are a cable channel, it largely does not apply. If you are a podcaster, no. If you are a streamer, no.”

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He continued, “So if Kimmel or Colbert want to continue doing their programming and they don't want to have to comply with this requirement or other public interest obligations, like bans on misleading broadcasting or news distortion, then they can go to a cable channel or a podcast or a streaming service and that's fine. But if you want that privilege of that broad distribution on this public resource of the broadcast television spectrum, then that's something they're going to have to comply with.”“.

Fox News Digital's Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi contributed to this report.