CBS denies it blocked Colbert from broadcasting James Talarico interview

CBS is denying Stephen Colbert’s claim that it blocked his interview with Texas Democrat James Talarico from airing. 

“THE LATE SHOW was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico,” the network told Fox News Digital in a statement Tuesday. 

The statement continued, “The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled. THE LATE SHOW decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal-time options.”

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A representative for “The Late Show” did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

On Monday night, Colbert asserted that network lawyers had halted him from airing his Talarico sit-down. 

“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,” Colbert told viewers.

Colbert’s interview with Talarico was shared on the show’s YouTube page, which has gotten more than 2.2 million views.

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Last month, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced it was enforcing its long-standing equal time rule that allows all legally qualified candidates, regardless of party, to receive equal airtime on the broadcast networks. 

According to the policy, Talarico’s Democratic primary rivals — which are Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett and little-known candidate Ahmad Hassan, would require the same amount of airtime on the networks he appears on.

Talarico’s recent appearance on ABC’s “The View” triggered an FCC probe.

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In an interview with Fox News Digital earlier this month, Carr shrugged off criticisms from Colbert and fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who lashed out over the FCC policy push, stressing the agency is enforcing a rule that “goes back to the 1950s” and that if Colbert and Kimmel don’t like the law, they should urge Congress to change it.

“On my watch, we’re going to enforce this regulation,” Carr said. “There’s lots of ways of distributing programming these days that you don’t need to comply with this regulation. If you’re a cable channel, it largely doesn’t apply. If you’re a podcaster, no. If you are a streamer, no.”

He continued, “So if Kimmel or Colbert want to continue to do their programming, and they don’t want to have to comply with this requirement or other public interest obligations like prohibitions on broadcast hoax or news distortion, then they can go to a cable channel or a podcast or a streaming service and that’s fine. But if you want that privilege of that wide distribution on this public resource of broadcast TV spectrum, then that’s something that they’re going to have to comply with.”