Stephen Colbert lambasted CBS after the network allegedly blocked him from interviewing James Talarico, one of Texas’ Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate, on his talk show Monday evening.
During his broadcast, Colbert stated that attorneys from his network, which is owned by Paramount, told the late-night comedian that he would not be able to interview Talarico on the broadcast, citing guidelines from the Federal Communications Commission.
"I think Donald Trump is worried we're about to flip Texas," Talarico said in a statement. "This is the party that ran against cancel culture. Now they're trying to control what we watch, what we say, and what we read. This is the most dangerous kind of cancel culture, the kind that comes from the top. A threat to one of our First Amendment rights is a threat to all of our First Amendment rights."
Talarico, a state representative from Austin, is competing against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas in the March 3 primary election, with early voting starting Tuesday. The winner will face the winner of the Republican primary, which includes incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston, in the November midterm election.
Houston Public Media reached out to Crockett’s campaign but did not immediately hear back.
Colbert still interviewed Talarico, though the interview was shared on YouTube rather than during Monday's broadcast.
Talarico and Crockett are in the midst of a closely watched campaign for the Democratic nomination as their political party seeks to win a statewide election for the first time in more than 30 years.
During his criticisms on "The Late Show," Colbert said CBS' attorneys cited the FCC's equal time rule, which requires broadcasters to make commitments of equal time to each of the candidates in an election. One of the exceptions to the equal time rule is for talk shows, like "The Late Show," though FCC Chair Brendan Carr has indicated that he wanted to walk back that exception.
"At this point, [Carr has] 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," Colbert said during Monday's broadcast. "But my network is unilaterally enforcing it as if he had. But I want to assure you — ladies and gentlemen, please — I want to assure you this decision is for purely financial reasons."
Talarico's critics have noted that the decision not to air his interview with Colbert came from CBS, rather than the FCC. Representatives for Talarico did not provide a comment regarding his attribution of fault with the Trump administration rather than CBS.
Paramount, which owns CBS, is in the midst of conversations with the Trump administration about a bid to buy Warner Bros.
The FCC is reportedly investigating the show "The View," which airs on ABC, for an interview with Talarico, as first reported by Reuters.
Neither CBS nor the FCC immediately returned requests for comment Tuesday.
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