Stephen Colbert called out his CBS bosses again on Tuesday (February 17) night after the network publicly claimed it didn’t prohibit The Late Show from airing an interview with Texas State Rep. James Talarico.
As previously reported, on Monday’s (February 16) Late Show, Colbert told his audience that CBS lawyers said he couldn’t interview Talarico on the program. This was due to the FCC’s “equal-time rule,” which requires broadcasters to provide equal time to each political candidate running for office. (Despite late-night interviews long being exempt from the rule, the Donald Trump-appointed chair has issued new guidance indicating a plan to target late-night shows and other talk shows.)
The late-night host still interviewed Talarico and uploaded the video to The Late Show‘s official YouTube channel. However, things took a turn when CBS released a statement on Monday, claiming Colbert was “not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview.”
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“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,” CBS said in a statement.
It continued, “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.”
Colbert fired back at his CBS bosses on Tuesday’s show, saying, “Clearly, this statement was written by and I’m guessingfor lawyers. They know damn well that every word of my script last night was approved by CBS lawyers who, for the record, approve every script that goes on the air, whether it’s about equal-time, or this image of frogs having sex.”
He added, “For the lawyers to release this without even talking to me is really surprising. I don’t even know what to do with this crap.” Colbert then proceeded to put the statement into a dog poo bag.
Colbert claimed that before his statement on the issue on Monday’s show, he “got called backstage to get more notes from these lawyers, something that had never, ever happened before.” He noted that the lawyers “told us the language they wanted me to use to describe that equal-time exception and I used that language.”
As the comedian pointed out, he followed their guidelines and chose to put the Talarico interview on YouTube instead, “where it’s got millions of views.” As of writing, the Talarico interview has over 5 million views, significantly more than any other Late Show video posted over the past few months.
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“I wish we could have put it on the show, where no one would have watched it,” Colbert quipped.
The host went on to say he’s not “mad,” adding, “I really don’t want an adversarial relationship with the network. I’ve never had one. As I said in my interview with James Talarico, I’m grateful to have worked for CBS for the last 11 years, and to have worked with George [Cheeks] and David [Stapf] and Amy [Reisenbach] and everyone at the network.”
“I’m just so surprised that this giant global corporation would not stand up to these bullies, come on, you’re Paramount!” Colbert concluded. “No, you’re more than that… you’re Paramount Plus!”
CBS previously announced that The Late Show would end in May 2026, following the close of the 2025–26 broadcast season. The network cited financial reasons for the cancellation, claiming the show loses $40 million annually. Some critics argued the axing was politically motivated, with parent company Paramount hoping to appease President Trump amid its merger with Skydance, which required government approval.
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Weeknights, 11:35/10:35c, CBS
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