• Colbert says CBS barred interview with Texas Democrat James Talarico over FCC equal‑time rule threat. • Network lawyers warned he couldn’t feature Talarico or discuss the ban on the show. • FCC Chairman Brendan Carr warned talk shows may lose bona fide news exemption to equal‑time rule. • Carr opened investigation into ABC’s The View after Talarico interview. • Equal‑time rule requires comparable airtime for opposing candidates unless bona fide news. • Entertainment talk shows usually treated as bona fide news, but Carr may drop exemption. • Colbert accuses FCC of partisan motives, linking to Trump administration. • He claims FCC aims to silence criticism of Trump on TV.
Article Summaries:
- Talk show host Stephen Colbert said CBS forbade him from interviewing Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico because of a Federal Communications Commission threat to enforce the equal-time rule on late-night and daytime talk shows. 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 said on last night’s episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. “Then I was told in some uncertain terms that not only could I not have him on, I could not mention me not havin
Sources: