Stephen Colbert Slams CBS For Banning James Talarico Interview
Stephen Colbert is in a lame duck phase of his popular late-night show, and he has no more af*** to give. It must be incredibly difficult to work for a network that actively works to destroy the brand you've built brick by brick. When a media company loses courage and embraces fear, we are all the worse for it, especially these days when the American people are looking for unbiased voices to provide accurate information and hold power to account.
That should suck.
May 21, 2026 will be the last episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and it appears that the end will be very, very bitter. According to CNBCColbert ripped CBS a new one after he was told that his recent interview with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico would not be allowed to be broadcast on TV as originally planned.
“You know who's not one of my guests tonight? That's Texas Representative James Talarico,” Colbert told his show's studio audience before Monday night's broadcast of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
“He was supposed to be here, but our network's lawyers, who called us directly, told us in no uncertain terms that we couldn't have him on the air,”
Colbert went on to say that he was told not to reveal this to his audience, so he wasted no time in revealing it to his audience and explaining why he was censored.
The FCC recently issued guidelines to the three major networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) over an outdated and rarely followed law that requires equal airtime for a political candidate's opponent when appearing on a news show.
Even though Colbert's interview with Talarico did not air on TV, it is available online in its entirety.
For its part, CBS issued a statement using semantics as cover for pressure on Colbert to be as afraid as they are of FCC head honcho Brendan Carr, the same man who Donald Trump sic'd on Jimmy Kimmel.
“The Late Show was not banned by CBS from airing the interview with Rep. James Talarico.”
“The show was given legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett [D-Texas]and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled,”
Of course, Jan.
