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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 having him on, and because my network clearly doesn't want us to talk about this, let's talk about this."

Colbert went on to describe some of the background Ars readers are already familiar with. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr recently issued a warning to late-night and daytime talk shows that they may no longer qualify for the bona fide news exemption to the equal-time rule, and subsequently opened an investigation into ABC’s The View after an interview with Talarico.

Formally known as the Equal Opportunities Rule, the rule generally requires that stations giving time to one political candidate provide comparable time and placement to opposing candidates if any opposing candidate makes a request. The rule has an exemption for candidate appearances on bona fide news programs, and entertainment talk shows have generally been treated as bona fide news programs for this purpose.

The equal-time rule is "the FCC's most time-honored rule, right after 'no nipples at the Super Bowl,'" Colbert said. Carr's recent letter "said he was thinking about dropping the exception for talk shows because he said some of them were motivated by partisan purposes," Colbert said, while accusing Carr of being motivated by partisan purposes himself.

"Let's just call this 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 said. Colbert also said he's not allowed to show a photo of Talarico, but simultaneously showed a photo of the candidate.

We contacted CBS and its owner Paramount today and have not received a response. CBS denied prohibiting an interview with Talarico in a statement reported by Variety. The CBS statement acknowledged giving "legal guidance" about potential consequences under the equal-time rule, though.

“The Late Show was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico," the statement said. "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.”

Colbert put interview on YouTube

Colbert played audio of a recent Carr interview in which the FCC chairman said, "If [Jimmy] Kimmel and Colbert want to continue to do their programming, they don't want to have to comply with this requirement, then they can go to a cable channel or a podcast or a streaming service and that's fine."

Colbert said he "decided to take Brendan Carr's advice" and interviewed Talarico for a segment posted on his show's YouTube channel. "The network says I can't give you a URL or a QR code but I promise you if you go to our YouTube page, you'll find it," Colbert said. That interview is available here.

Colbert described the unequal treatment of late-night talk shows and talk radio. "Carr here claims he's just getting partisanship off the airwaves but the FCC is also in charge of regulating radio broadcasts. And what would you know, Brendan Carr says right-wing talk radio isn't a target of the FCC's equal time notice," Colbert said.

Colbert said that a mere threat, and not an actual rule change, caused CBS to forbid him from interviewing a candidate. "At this point, he's just released a letter that says he's thinking about doing away with the exception for late night, he hasn't done away with it yet," Colbert said. "But my network is unilaterally enforcing it as if he had. But I want to assure you this decision is for purely financial reasons."

Colbert pushed out after "big fat bribe" comment

Colbert's tenure as host is scheduled to end in May. CBS announced it would end the show last year after Colbert called CBS owner Paramount's $16 million settlement with Trump “a big fat bribe.” Paramount subsequently won FCC approval of an $8 billion merger with Skydance, while agreeing to Carr's demand to install a "bias monitor."

FCC Democrat Anna Gomez said today that CBS forbidding the interview with Talarico "is 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. 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 Paramount "has regulatory matters before the government, but corporate interests cannot justify retreating from airing newsworthy content." She urged broadcasters "to stand firm against these unlawful pressures and continue exercising their constitutional right to speak freely and without government interference.”

"Disgraceful behavior" by CBS and Carr

Harold Feld, a longtime telecom attorney who is senior VP of consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge, said today that "if what Colbert says is true, CBS needs new lawyers. Even the strictest reading of the equal time rule doesn’t prevent someone from saying the name of a candidate or talking about a URL. Even if the rule applied, CBS would not be required to offer an equal opportunity to Republican candidates at this time. Because Rep. Talarico is still a candidate in the primary, only his two primary opponents—Rep. Jasmine Crocket (D-Texas) and Ahmad Hassan—are entitled to equal opportunity. Nor did CBS have any responsibility to offer equal time to them; candidates must make a request on their own."

Feld called the incident "disgraceful behavior by both CBS and the chairman of the FCC.” With the FCC targeting late-night TV but not talk radio, Feld said it appears that "broadcast appearances by Trump-friendly candidates will continue to receive exemptions from this rule while appearances by Trump-disapproved candidates will not." Paramount's capitulation seems to be more about "finding an excuse to curry favor with President Trump, rather than any concern over the equal time rule," he said.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) said that "candidate interviews have long been exempt from 'equal time' rules for good reason. It would be wrong if a Democratic administration demanded conservative talk radio hosts give equal airtime when they interview candidates, and it’s wrong for the Trump administration to demand the same of late night talk show hosts."

FIRE Chief Counsel Robert Corn-Revere said that by "putting pressure on late night talk shows critical of the Trump administration while openly admitting that conservative talk radio is immune from the FCC’s ire," Carr is "making himself the poster boy for big government putting its thumb on the scale of political debate."

This article was updated with a statement from CBS.

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