Stephen Colbert Slams CBS For Shutting Down His James Talarico Interview
Stephen Colbert publicly called out her bosses at CBS for blocking an upcoming interview from airing on her late-night show.
Monday, February 16, episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colberthost, 61, called CBS and the FCC Chairman Brendan Carr not allowing him to speak to the Texas State Representative James TalaricoDemocrat, as originally planned.
“You know who’s not one of my guests tonight? That’s Texas State Attorney James Talarico,” he said after introducing Jennifer Garner’s upcoming appearance on the show. “[James] He should have been here, but our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, told us in no uncertain terms that we couldn’t get him on the air.”
The comedian chose to talk about this issue live on his show, adding, “Then I was told, in other words, that I can’t just live with him, I couldn’t even say that I don’t have him. And because my network doesn’t want us to talk about this …
After speaking with his superiors, Colbert was told that the interview was canceled due to a new directive from Carr. It was suggested that Colbert follow the “equal time” rule, which requires broadcasters to give equal time to each political candidate.
Meanwhile, Colbert pointed out that there were exceptions to the news interviews and interviews with politicians.
“Well, FCC you,” Colbert said. “Let’s call it 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. He’s like a toddler with too much screen time.”
Colbert went on to say that he and his partner caught the night Jimmy Kimmel they were the hardest hit after Kimmel’s show was temporarily suspended from ABC following his comments following the death of a radical activist. Charlie Kirk.
“I decided to take Brendan Carr’s advice,” Colbert said of his decision to interview Talarico and send it to The Late Show YouTube channel. “The network says I can’t give you the URL or the QR code, but I promise you, if you go to our YouTube page, it will give you power. [will] calf.”
CBS announced that earlier The Late Show it will end in May. CBS executives previously released a statement addressing their decision, saying it was “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters occurring at Paramount” but rather for financial reasons.
Colbert broke his silence about the shocking withdrawal at the time.
“Before we start the show I want to let you know something I found out last night. Next year will be our last season,” he said during the July 2025 taping as the audience roared. “I share your feelings. It’s not just the end of our show, it’s the end of the latest CBS show. I’m not being replaced. This will all pass.”
He continued: “I want to say that the people at CBS have been great partners. … And I thank the audience, you, who have joined us every night, here, out there and around the world.”
