CBS blocks James Talarico interview by Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert ripped CBS for barring him from airing on his late-night TV show an interview with Texas state Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate.

“You know who’s not one of my guests tonight? That’s Texas Representative James Talarico,” Colbert told his show’s studio audience for Monday night’s broadcast.

“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,” said Colbert, drawing boos from the crowd.

“Then I was told in some uncertain terms that not only could I not have him on him on, I could not mention me not having him on,” Colbert said.

“And because my network clearly doesn’t want us to talk about this, let’s talk about this,” Colbert said to laughs and applause.

Colbert suggested that CBS’s move was the result of concern that the network would draw the ire of the Federal Communications Commission.

Colbert’s comments are the latest escalation in tension between talk show hosts and the FCC, following the brief suspension of fellow late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s show last summer.

The FCC last month issued guidance to the three broadcast networks, reminding them of the 1934 law that requires networks to provide equal opportunity for coverage for political candidates if their opponents appear on air.

The guidance pointedly said there is no evidence that late-night and daytime talk show interviews would qualify for an exemption allowed under the law for “bona fide” news coverage.

Colbert, during Monday’s show, pointed to reports earlier this month that the FCC was investigating the ABC daytime talk show “The View” because of an appearance by Talarico on that program.

CBS did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the situation from CNBC.

Talarico on Tuesday posted a link to his interview with Colbert, which was available online.

In a statement provided to CNBC by his Senate campaign, Talarico said, “I think [President] Donald Trump is worried we’re about to flip Texas. 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,” Talarico said.

“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 is in a close Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat against Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D- Texas, in which early voting began Tuesday. The winner will face off against the winner of the Republican primary between Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Democrats last won a statewide race in Texas in 1994.

The FCC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about whether CBS would have run afoul of agency guidance by airing Talarico’s interview.

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, in a statement, called CBS’s decision “yet another troubling example of corporate capitulation in the face of this Administration’s broader campaign to censor and control speech.”

“The FCC has no lawful authority to pressure broadcasters for political purposes or to create a climate that chills free expression,” Gomez said.

“CBS is fully protected under the First Amendment to determine what interviews it airs, which makes its decision to yield to political pressure all the more disappointing,” Gomez said. “It is no secret that Paramount, CBS’s parent company, has regulatory matters before the government, but corporate interests cannot justify retreating from airing newsworthy content. The FCC is powerless to impose restrictions on protected speech, and any attempt to intimidate broadcasters into self-censorship undermines both press freedom and public trust.”

“I once again urge broadcasters and their parent companies to stand firm against these unlawful pressures and continue exercising their constitutional right to speak freely and without government interference.”

Paramount Skydance has launched a hostile tender bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal that would require regulatory approval from the federal government if WBD shareholders accept the offer.

CBS in July said Colbert’s show would be cancelled in May.

That announcement came shortly after Colbert blasted the network for giving what he called a “big fat bribe” to Trump. Paramount Skydance, earlier agreed to pay $16 million for Trump’s future presidential library to settle a lawsuit over the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

A week after CBS said it was cancelling Colbert’s show, the FCC approved the $8 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance Media.

Colbert, in September, spoke up for ABC late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel when ABC pulled Kimmel off the air following remarks by FCC Chair Brendan Carr that the network’s broadcast license was at risk because of comments Kimmel made about the alleged killer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Kimmel’s show returned to the air about a week later.