‘I Have the Right To Talk About Their Decision’: Colbert Doubles Down on Claim CBS Blocked Him From Interviewing Democrat

The host of CBS’s “The Late Show,” Stephen Colbert, is doubling down on his criticism of the network after he lashed out at CBS for allegedly blocking him from airing an interview with a high-profile Democrat running for Senate in Texas, James Talarico.On Tuesday, CBS issued a terse statement saying it did not block Mr. Colbert from interviewing Mr. Talarico. Late Tuesday night, on his CBS show, Mr. Colbert fired back, claiming CBS indeed caved to threats from the Trump Administration and blocked the interview. The contretemps over the Talarico booking was reportedly the result of concerns that the interview would violate the Federal Communications Commission’s equal time rule, which states that if over-the-air broadcast networks interview a political candidate, they must provide the same amount of time to their legally filed primary or general election opponents. For years, late-night and daytime talk shows hosted Democratic candidates without providing equal time to their opponents, while the FCC sat idly by. But in January, President Trump’s FCC commissioner, Brendan Carr, said those programs are not exempt from the equal time rule. Political guests on the late night comedy and daytime talks shows are almost always Democrats, and Mr. Colbert and his counterpart at ABC, Jimmy Kimmel, are virulently anti-Trump, as is NBC’s Seth Myers. Mr. Carr’s comments on equal time are in line with his pushback against liberal bias at the big three broadcast networks, which are legally supposed to provide objective programming.Stephen Colbert defiantly shows a photo of a model who looks similar to liberal Texas Democrat James Talarico as he denounces CBS. Paramount GlobalOn Monday, Mr. Colbert complained that CBS had allegedly taken the heavy-handed approach of blocking him from airing his interview with Mr. Talarico. He posted the interview on the “Laget Show” YouTube channel.But on Tuesday afternoon, CBS fired back at its soon-to-be former host and presented a different version of events, saying in a statement, “THE LATE SHOW was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico.” The statement said that Mr. Colbert was provided “legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled.”Yet hours later, in a pre-recorded episode, Mr. Colbert doubled down on his claim. He said he failed to find an example of the FCC enforcing the rule for late-night shows. And while the FCC has not formally updated its rule, he said CBS “generously did it for him and told me unilaterally that I had to abide by the equal time rules.”“That decision, I want to be clear, is their right,” he said. “Just like I have the right to talk about their decision on air.”He then broke with his practice of speaking well of CBS and said that he was “ready to let the whole thing go” until the network released its statement that blamed him for the interview not airing.James Comey appears on ‘Late Night With Stephen Colbert.’ ParamountHe added, “I am well aware that I can book other guests. I don’t need to be presented with that option. I’ve had Jasmine Crockett on my show twice!”He also celebrated the fact that his interview on YouTube received more than 3 million views, which is more than his average audience on CBS, and threw in a jab, “I wish we could have put on the show where no one would’ve watched it.”Winding down his response to CBS, he claimed that he is “not even mad” at CBS and feigned ignorance about the network’s response. CBS’s statement put the blame on Mr. Colbert, as it noted that there were options to fulfill equal time requirements, such as inviting Ms.Crockett for an interview. It was unclear why Mr. Colbert apparently did not interview Ms. Crockett, who appeared on “The Late Show” for an interview last May, before she announced her Senate bid.Mr. Colbert went to great pains to describe a draconian restriction on his free speech rights, which he blamed on CBS.“You know who is not one of my guests tonight? That’s Texas State Representative James Talarico,” he said. “He 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. 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 Federal Communications Commission chairman, Brendan Carr, at New York, September 22, 2025. AP/Andres KudackiHe took repeated shots at CBS, claiming that he could not “show you any form of James Talarico.”“I can’t interview James Talarico. I can’t show any pictures of James Talarico. I’m not sure I can even say the words James Talarico,” he said. “But I want to assure you … this decision is for purely financial reasons,” Mr. Colbert said.His comment was a shot at the statement CBS released in July when it announced it was canceling “The Late Show” in May, which it said was “purely” for “financial reasons.” The announcement of the cancellation, which was made while Skydance Media was waiting for the FCC’s approval to acquire CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, was cast as a political decision made to placate the Trump Administration.Mr. Colbert also claimed that he was prevented from sharing the link to the show’s YouTube page, which seems to be undercut by the network’s statement. Mr. Colbert has hosted several prominent Democratic politicians on his show since the start of 2026, including Senator Bernie Sanders, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, and Virginia’s governor, Abigail Spanberger. Mr. Shapiro is widely expected to seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028.But the lawyers at CBS appear to be enforcing a narrow interpretation of the equal time rule, applying it to candidates who have filed paperwork to run in active primary races. Mr. Shapiro’s appearance seems to have benefited from a kind of loophole. While Mr. Shapiro had stated he planned to run for reelection, PoliticsPA noted that he did not become an “official candidate” until Tuesday, when the state’s nomination petition period opened. Mr. Colbert is scheduled to interview a Democratic senator from Georgia, Jon Ossoff, who is running for reelection and considered one of the Democrats’ most vulnerable senators in 2026. As of Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Ossoff was still listed among the guests for Wednesday’s episode. But there are no Republican candidates or Democratic Senate primary opponents in Georgia listed as upcoming guests.

‘I Have the Right To Talk About Their Decision’: Colbert Doubles Down on Claim CBS Blocked Him From Interviewing Democrat

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