Colbert instead directed viewers to his YouTube channel, where his interview with Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico can be watched.

Stephen Colbert says CBS banned interview with Democratic Senate candidate over FCC fears: ‘FCC you’

Colbert instead directed viewers to his YouTube channel, where his interview with Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico can be watched.

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and *NME*.

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February 17, 2026 11:15 a.m. ET

Democratic Texas State Rep. James Talarico speaks during a campaign launch rally on Sept. 9, 2025 in Round Rock, Texas; Stephen Colbert attends the WSJ Magazine 2025 Innovator Awards at MoMA on Oct. 29, 2025 in New York City. Credit:

Brandon Bell/Getty; Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Stephen Colbert is standing up to CBS after he claims the network forbid him from interviewing Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico on his show last night.**

The late-night host explained that he was originally supposed to interview Talarico on Monday’s broadcast, but they had to move their conversation to *The Late Show*’s YouTube channel due to FCC concerns.**

“You know who is not one of my guests tonight? That’s Texas State Representative James Talarico,” Colbert began. “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.

Stephen Colbert on 'The Late Show'.

Scott Kowalchyk/CBS

He continued, “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 went on to discuss the “equal time rule,” which he explained is an “old FCC rule that applies only to radio and broadcast television” that states “if a show has a candidate on during an election, they have to have all that candidate’s opponents on as well.” **

Still, Colbert noted that there’s always been exceptions to the rule, including talk show interviews with politicians. **

“But, on January 21st of this year, a letter was released by FCC chairman and smug bowling pin Brendan Carr,” Colbert quipped. “In this letter, Carr said he was thinking about dropping the exception for talk shows because he said some of them were motivated by partisan purposes. Well, sir, you’re chairman of the FCC, so FCC you."

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The late-night host went on to accuse Carr of being “motivated by partisan purposes” himself. **

“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,” Colbert said. “He’s like a toddler with too much screen time, he gets cranky and then drops a load in his diaper.” **

Colbert added that he and Jimmy Kimmel both spoke out about the letter on their programs at the time, which prompted Carr to state that they could move to a cable channel or podcast if they didn’t want to comply with the requirements.  **

“I decided to take Brendan Carr’s advice. 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 clarified. “The network says I can’t give you a URL or a QR code, but I promise you if you go to our YouTube page, you’ll find it.”

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Colbert went on to acknowledge that while Carr hasn’t scrapped the equal time rule just yet, CBS “is unilaterally enforcing it as if he had” at this point.**

“Ladies and gentlemen, please, I want to assure you, this decision is for purely financial reasons,” he quipped, echoing similar statements made by the network after it canceled *The Late Show *in July.

He also noted that, because of the rule, he can’t show images of James Talarico and had instead been using a stock photo of a man described as “not James Talarico” in his place. **

“I’m not even allowed to show you a drawing of him,” he said, before taking out a pen and paper and beginning to doodle. “Which is why I cannot show you what I’m drawing out of fear that James Talarico… looks like Snoopy.” **

Colbert then held up the paper to showcase his pretty good Snoopy doodle. “I cannot show you any form of James Talarico,” he continued. “I can’t interview James Talarico. I can’t show any pictures of James Talarico. I’m not even sure I can say the words James Talarico.”**

Instead, he noted that he could share “what we always show when we have to pull material at the last minute,” before unveiling a “tasteful nude of Brendan Carr” that featured the FCC chairman with a potted cactus over his groin.

Colbert did, in fact, speak with Talarico on his YouTube channel, where they discussed having to take their interview online due to FCC regulations. **

“Stephen, 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 most dangerous kind of cancel culture: the kind that comes from the top," Talarico said. "They went after *The View* because I went on there. They went after Jimmy Kimmel for telling a joke they didn’t like. They went after you for telling the truth about Paramount’s bribe to Donald Trump."

He continued, "Corporate media executives are selling out the First Amendment to curry favor with corrupt politicians and a threat to any of our First Amendment rights is a threat to all our First Amendment rights.” **

To which Colbert responded, “To fact check you, my network said our cancellation was a purely financial decision, and I remain grateful for the last 11 years.”

Watch Colbert's monologue and interview with Talarico in the clips above.**

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Talk”