Stephen Colbert has released his interview with James Talarico on The Late Show’s official YouTube page. The interview was originally pulled from the air by CBS due to concerns surrounding the Federal Communications Commission’s equal time rule.
Stephen Colbert released James Talarico interview on YouTube
During the latest episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Colbert shared that CBS had informed his team that James Talarico, the Texas Democratic Senate candidate, could not appear on air. The late-night talk show host also revealed that he was asked not make any mention of this during the broadcast either. However, Colbert addressed the issue directly, discussing the FCC’s equal-time rule with the audience.
Colbert explained that the FCC rule dictates that all opposing political candidates will receive equal airtime during elections. However, talk show interviews and news interviews are an exception to this rule. The comedian then slammed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for thinking about “dropping the exception for talk shows,” as he believes some of them are “motivated by partisan purposes. He jokingly exclaimed, “FCC you!” calling Carr out for the notice and accusing him of acting out of political bias.
Colbert went on to criticize CBS as well, noting that the network decided to follow through with the FCC’s notice even though the exemption has not been officially removed yet. “He’s just released a letter that says he’s thinking about doing away with the exception for late night. He hasn’t done away with it yet, but my network is unilaterally enforcing it as if he had,” Colbert stated. The comedian then joked, “I want to assure you, this decision is for purely financial reasons.”
Colbert revealed that even though his interview with Talarico did not make it to air, he will release it on YouTube. “I am going to interview James Talarico tonight, but it’s not going to be on The Late Show. It’s going to be on The Late Show’s YouTube page,” he declared. The interview is now available on the official YouTube channel of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Originally reported by Namrata Ghosh on Mandatory.
