The Verge · Feb 17, 2026 · Collected from RSS
The Late Show host Stephen Colbert says CBS blocked him from broadcasting an interview with James Talarico, a Democratic representative from Texas. During his opening monologue on Monday night, Colbert says the network's lawyers told him in "no uncertain terms" that he couldn't have Talarico on the show, forcing him to post the interview on YouTube instead, hours after news broke that Anderson Cooper is leaving his position at the network as a 60 Minutes correspondent. "He [Talarico] 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," … Read the full story at The Verge.
Emma Roth is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.The Late Show host Stephen Colbert says CBS blocked him from broadcasting an interview with James Talarico, a Democratic representative from Texas. During his opening monologue on Monday night, Colbert says the network’s lawyers told him in “no uncertain terms” that he couldn’t have Talarico on the show, forcing him to post the interview on YouTube instead, hours after news broke that Anderson Cooper is leaving his position at the network as a 60 Minutes correspondent.“He [Talarico] 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,” Colbert says. “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.”Colbert, whose late-night show comes to an end in May, cites the Federal Communications Commission’s equal time rule, which states radio and broadcast television shows must air competing political candidates for the same amount of time during an election. Talarico is currently campaigning for a spot in the Senate.As noted by Deadline, news interviews have long been exempt from this rule, with talk shows seemingly included under this umbrella. But in January, FCC Chair Brendan Carr issued new guidance suggesting late-night and daytime talk shows should comply with the rule as well. “If you’re fake news, you’re not going to qualify for the bona fide news exemption,” Carr said at the time.Colbert says Carr “hasn’t done away” with the exemption yet, but CBS “is unilaterally enforcing it as if he had.” Last year, Paramount appointed The Free Press founder Bari Weiss as the editor-in-chief of CBS News. “Let’s just call this what it is. Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV.”Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Emma Roth