Stephen Colbert Criticizes CBS for Pulling Interview with Rep. James Talarico

On a recent episode of “The Late Show,” host Stephen Colbert expressed his frustration with CBS for pulling his interview with Rep. James Talarico from Sunday night’s broadcast without his knowledge. Colbert slammed his home network for releasing a statement denying their involvement in the decision, which he believes was an attempt to cover themselves.

Colbert shared the statement released by CBS, which claimed that the show was not prohibited from airing the interview but was given legal guidance regarding the FCC equal-time rule. The network suggested presenting the interview on their YouTube channel to avoid triggering the rule, a decision Colbert disagreed with. He humorously criticized the statement for sounding like it was written by lawyers and jokingly offered his own legal advice in return.

Despite receiving approval for the script and interview from CBS’ legal team, Colbert revealed that the interview was abruptly shut down and he was given additional notes about discussing the incident. He expressed confusion over the network’s actions and emphasized that he did not want to have an adversarial relationship with CBS.

Colbert also disclosed that CBS enforced the FCC’s equal-time rule for political candidates, even though there has historically been an exception for talk shows like “The Late Show.” He criticized the network for unilaterally enforcing the rule and suggested that the decision to pull the interview was made for financial reasons.

In a humorous twist, Colbert speculated that the Trump administration’s desire to silence critics on TV may have influenced CBS’ decision. He likened Trump to a cranky toddler with too much screen time, implying that the former president’s penchant for watching TV could be a factor in the network’s actions.