Late-night host Stephen Colbert accused his network, CBS, of refusing to broadcast his interview with Texas Rep. James Talarico, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, during Monday night’s airing of “The Late Show” for fear of running afoul of the Trump administration.
Colbert said CBS canceled Talarico’s appearance on air in light of guidance issued Jan. 21 by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, which directed daytime and late-night TV talk show hosts to offer equal airtime to all political candidates running for a given office. Talk shows have long been exempted from these “equal time” rules when conducting “bona fide news interviews,” allowing them to book political candidates without bringing on their opponents.
Talarico “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 in a segment explaining the cancelation. “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 interview was set to air on Monday night’s show the day before the start of early voting for Texas’ March 3 primaries. Talarico is vying for the Senate Democratic nomination against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas.
Talarico is vying for the Senate Democratic nomination against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas.
Interesting. Crockett is one of the very few Dems willing if not just able to navigate through Republican tactics. What could Talarico offer?
He’s good at messaging from a Christian left perspective. Before I deleted social media, some of his more viral moments on the Texas House floor would make it to my feed. I liked what I heard, but I’m not a Texas resident or voter so Crockett vs Talarico is someone else’s judgement call to make.
He’s a white minister. This is how they get rid of a pesky black woman, you gerrymander her out of office.
Be careful what you wish for. She is highly respected nationally, and will have multiple offers from several news organizations very quickly, where she will have a national microphone to attack from. She no longer has to abide by MAGA rules.
You cannot gerrymander a senate seat
I feel like this is some reverse psychology thing or something. It’s clear the media is pushing Talarico because they’re scared of Crockett.
It’s subservience, not fear on CBS’s part.
Good on Colbert for bringing a little Streisand effect to the party.
Subservience to the FCC and the administration is the excuse. The real reason is that David Ellison is afraid the dem might win.
The majority owner of CBS is Paramount Global, which itself is controlled by Skydance Media, a company led by David Ellison (son of Larry Ellison), following a significant acquisition of the Redstone family’s stake in mid-2025.
This stunt has caused the video to get 100 times the views it would normally get. I watched it and i never catch the colbert report unless i stumble across is online.
The Trump administration is doing their best to destroy this country, but even republicans know you don’t touch the first amendment.
Brilliant bit of marketing to blare “We’ve been censored by the FCC!” from the rooftops, on the day the Texas primary starts.
It’s the Orson Wells playbook. “See the movie that the Hersts dont want you to see!!”
Still brilliant either way.
You can still (and should) watch it on YouTube!
Rep. James Talarico On Confronting Christian Nationalism, And Strange Days In The Texas Legislature
Edit: If you feel so inclined, you can donate to his US Senate campaign here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jt-tx-web
or you could donate to jasmine crockett. just sayin.
we need more black representation in dc.
If the link goes dark I’ve pulled copy, hit me up.
Thank you. I was just thinking that someone needs to grab this, and it was going to be a pita if I had to be the one to do it.
(More copies are always welcome.)
That guy was super well spoken and had a good message. I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of him before. Always nice to see the Streisand Effect in action!
He was definitely well spoken and definitely had a good message. It’s not at all surprising that we haven’t heard of him.
The joy of his Colbert Report is finally returning to him.
Remember, CBS is now owned by a Trump ally.
Correct, they refused to air it not out of fear of the FCC, but out of fear of that Texans might like what Talarico has to say.
Texas flips blue is on my Bingo card.
That would be awesome.
And it’s a hell of a brave thing Colbert and crew are doing in speaking out.
They’re patriots at a time when speech isn’t free.
Banning something is a sure fire way to give it oxygen. Streisand effect
The problem Trump has in doing this type of suppression is that it gains more attention and riles people up more than if he had let the interview air. Sure the interview might have said things he didn’t want to be said, but now he has made this a much bigger issue and he looks weak because he is scared at the mere prospect of some words being uttered.
Banning something is a sure fire way to give it oxygen.
Depends. Stephen says he was told not to tell anyone on air that they couldn’t air it. Assuming that’s true, and he had decided to comply, no one really would have known. It’s only through his (presumed) bravery that we’ve all seen it.
I’m sure there would have been articles asking why there was an interview uploaded to the YouTube channel and pinned right at the top that wasn’t aired on the channel. It wouldn’t have been under the radar either way, but it would have taken longer to be reported this widely.
But I do get your point.
Well not taking anything from him, but with so many people involved in a TV production I think it would have come out in some form that dissent was being suppressed.
Yep, and Colbert has no reason to pull any punches either. They already canceled his show to appease the administration. Why would Stephen hesitate to tell the world every time CBS bends the knee?
Good on him for calling out every time they act as state propaganda and not a news network.
If they cancel the show earlier they can’t pretend to be impartial, and Colbert gets paid the rest of his contract without having to do any work.
Plus they’ll be in the real news for a week lol
i wouldn’t have watched the interview if cbs hadn’t cancelled it
Same
And, in hindsight, I’m glad I did. That guy has the right idea.
He said ‘It’s not left vs right, it’s top vs bottom’.
Exactly what we need our politicians to be acknowledging
No wonder the Trump regime didn’t want it aired. Nothing is more dangerous to them than pointing out that the culture war is fabricated to distract from the class war so the poors don’t realize that the billionaires are their enemies, not immigrants and trans people.
Yeah, the guy seems like a Christian that follows the bible (I’ve since watched other Interviews) and wants to practice the ‘love thy neighbor’ part and not the ‘hate the gays and abortion’ part (which, as he points out, do not exist).
That’s a good kind of person to run in Texas, Jesus was a socialist after all…
Banning something is a sure fire way to give it oxygen.
It’s a clever bit of marketing to queue this up and make a big stir and drum about being censored.
The allegations feel… thin? This is a primary race in a state that’s been sandbagged for Republicans for decades. But as a piece of campaign material, it’s par excellance. More people are going to see the clip passed around online than ever would watching it broadcast on a Monday night.
The problem Trump has in doing this type of suppression
I doubt this was anyone’s serious intent. Republicans pull this gag all the time. They deliberately try and trick the alarm for censorship and then scream ten times as loud “LOOK AT ME! I’VE BEEN CENSORED! CHECK OUT THE VIDEO THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO SEE!”
Liberals (or, at least, this one guy fighting for his life in a deep red state) finally seem to have caught up to the game.
Either that or it’s exactly what it says on the tin. I wonder which is more likely.
Not to say this story isn’t important, self censorship at the hands of the state is…
But what does this have to do with technology?
Important story, wrong place friend.
Exactly. Post it to a Programming forum because… you know, computers and stuff.
History memes too!
I believe that communications/media broadcasting are under the technology umbrella.
Not really a tech centric story. This is primarily a political/free speech story. If it was about a piece of technology used to censor someone, that might fit.
I didn’t even notice, good catch.
See BS is not scared of the FCC, they’re bootlicking. But I’m sure Colbert is trying to be diplomatic.
Colbert, go be funny again plz
Really depressing to see what a wet blanket he became after he took the Letterman spot, especially given how much leyway Letterman had to fuck around with prior to his departure.
Some of Colbert’s best material is when he’s got nothing to lose. The last six months have been a breath of fresh air on that alone.
He is lying. What they are afraid of is Amadioh Chess
I don’t get the reference.
Sure, Jan.
