Colbert Hits Back at CBS' Statement as Interview Row Impodes
Colbert Hits Back at CBS' Statement as Interview Row Impodes
Callum SutherlandWed, February 18, 2026 at 1:04 PM UTC
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Stephen Colbert during an episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Sept. 2, 2025. Credit - Scott Kowalchyk/CBS—Getty Images
Stephen Colbert criticized CBS’ statement after the network denied refusing to broadcast his interview with Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico, a U.S. Senate candidate, out of fear of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
In a statement issued Tuesday, CBS said: “The Late Show was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico. The show 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. The Late Show decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal time options."
But Colbert took umbrage to CBS’ portrayal of the events from the day before.
“CBS told me unilaterally that I had to abide by the equal time rules, something I have never been asked to do for an interview in the 21 years of this job,” he said upon taking his seat at The Late Show for Tuesday’s episode. “Now that decision, I want to be clear, is their right. Just like I have the right to talk about their decision on air.”
Brandishing a printed copy of the statement, Colbert quipped: “This is a surprisingly small piece of paper, considering how many butts it’s trying to cover.”
He claimed the statement was “clearly written by, and I’m guessing for, lawyers.”
The late-night host strongly disputed the network’s version of events, pointing out that he had already had Rep. Crockett on his show twice. “I could prove that to you, but the network won’t let me show you her picture without including her opponents. So I guess I’ll have to show you this picture of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein instead,” he said, as an image appeared behind him of President Trump with his arm around the convicted sex offender.
“We obeyed our network and put the interview on YouTube, where it’s gotten millions of views,” said Colbert. “I wish we could have put it on the show, where no one would have watched it.”
Colbert went on to say the lawyers know “damn well” that his script from Monday night had been approved by CBS’ lawyers.
“For the record, I’m not even mad. I really don’t want an adversarial relationship with the network. I’ve never had one,” he said, before taking aim at CBS’ parent company, Paramount.
“I’m just so surprised that this giant global corporation would not stand up to these bullies,” he said, seemingly doubling down on his argument that they folded to FCC pressures. “Come on, you’re Paramount! No. No! No, you’re more than that. You’re Paramount+. Plus what? I guess we’re all going to find out pretty soon.”
Colbert rounded off the segment by scrunching up the printed CBS statement and putting it in a dog waste bag.
TIME has contacted CBS and Paramount for comment.
The row first came to light on Monday’s episode, when Colbert accused CBS of refusing to broadcast his interview with Talarico.
“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,” said Colbert. “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.”
Colbert said the directive from lawyers came following a guidance on changing broadcasting regulations put forward by chairman of the FCC Brendan Carr in January.
The FCC’s equal time rule stipulates that all political candidates must be given equal air time if one of their opponents features on a TV or radio broadcast during an election, but talk show and news interviews have traditionally been exempt from this rule.
Carr’s guidance sought to narrow this exemption for talk shows.
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“The FCC has not been presented with any evidence that the interview portion of any late-night or daytime television talk show program on air presently would qualify for the bona fide news exemption. Moreover, a program that is motivated by partisan purposes, for example, would not be entitled to an exemption under longstanding FCC precedent,” Carr stated, appearing to suggest that certain shows have partisan motivations.
Colbert hit out at Carr and President Donald Trump on Monday’s episode.
“I think you [Carr] are motivated by partisan purposes yourself… Let's just 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,” he said.
Read More: Trump Threatens to Sue Grammys Host Trevor Noah Over Epstein Joke: ‘Get Ready’
Colbert’s team instead published the full interview with Talarico on the show’s YouTube channel, bypassing any envisioned TV restrictions. As of Wednesday morning, it has since racked up over three million views.
“I don't usually say this to a guest, but if people are watching this right now, it's because they found us online, on YouTube,” Colbert said to Talarico, at the start of the interview.
“I think that Donald Trump is worried that we're about to flip Texas,” Talarico replied, referring to the upcoming midterm elections taking place in November. “This is the party that ran against cancel culture, and now they're trying to control what we watch, what we say, what we read. And this is the most dangerous kind of cancel culture, the kind that comes from the top.”
Talarico made reference to ABC’s The View, after it was reported earlier this month that the FCC had launched an investigation after the TV show aired an interview with the Texas state representative, to determine if the program is violating equal time rules for interviews with political candidates. TIME has been unable to independently verify if such an investigation has been launched.
TIME has reached out to the FCC for comment.
Commissioner Anna M. Gomez, the lone Democrat on the FCC, condemned the “censorship” of Colbert’s interview with Talarico, calling it “yet another troubling example of corporate capitulation in the face of this Administration’s broader campaign to censor and control speech.”
“The FCC has no lawful authority to pressure broadcasters for political purposes or to create a climate that chills free expression,” she argued on Tuesday. “CBS is fully protected under the First Amendment to determine what interviews it airs, which makes its decision to yield to political pressure all the more disappointing.”
Talarico is running as a Democratic candidate for Texas Senator, with primary party elections set for March 3. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz won the Senate election for Texas in 2024, with 53% of the vote.
Meanwhile, Colbert’s comments about broadcast censorship come as he approaches the final few months of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. The show was canceled last July, with the network citing financial reasons.
However, many—including Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren —criticized the timing of the news, as it was announced days after Colbert, in an opening monologue, addressed how CBS’ parent company, Paramount, had reached a $16 million settlement with Trump over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. Colbert labeled the settlement a “big fat bribe,” referencing the then-pending sale of Paramount to Skydance Media, which required the approval of the Trump Administration.
Colbert’s final episode is due to air on May 21.
Trump celebrated the cancelation and expressed hope that other late-night TV shows, including that of his long-time adversary Jimmy Kimmel, would also be axed.
That hope was realized for a brief period in September last year.
Kimmel mocked Trump’s response to a reporter’s question over the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish,” said Kimmel, highlighting how Trump had pointed to the ongoing construction of a new ballroom at the White House in the background when speaking to reporters. Kimmel also said the “MAGA gang” was trying to “score political points” following Kirk’s assassination.
ABC swiftly announced it would suspend Kimmel’s show indefinitely—an update Trump referred to as “great news for America.” When Kimmel’s show was reinstated a few days later, Trump heavily criticized the decision.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
