CBS Lawyers Block Texas Senate Candidate's Colbert Interview Over FCC Equal Time Rules

CBS network lawyers prevented Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico from appearing on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” Monday night, citing concerns about violating Federal Communications Commission equal time regulations under the Trump administration.

Colbert revealed the last-minute cancellation during his broadcast, explaining that network attorneys contacted the show directly with explicit instructions.

“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 said on his program. “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.”

The incident occurred just hours before early voting began Tuesday in Texas’ primary elections, where Talarico and Rep. Jasmine Crockett are among Democrats seeking the U.S. Senate seat currently held by four-term Republican Sen. John Cornyn, according to the source material.

The controversy stems from new FCC guidance issued in January under the Trump administration that extends equal time requirements to late-night and daytime talk shows. Previously, broadcast networks were required to give equal time to political candidates, but that rule hadn’t traditionally applied to talk shows.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, appointed by Trump last year, questioned the talk show exemption and suggested hosts were “motivated by partisan purposes,” according to the public notice. The FCC stated it had not been presented with evidence that interview portions of current late-night or daytime television talk shows would qualify for the bona fide news exemption.

Despite the broadcast restriction, Colbert found a workaround. The host noted that equal time provisions apply to broadcast but not streaming platforms, allowing him to post his nearly 15-minute interview with Talarico on YouTube. Colbert specifically noted during the segment that it was only appearing online and not on broadcast television.

Talarico seized on the controversy, posting a nearly minute-long clip of the interview on X with pointed commentary about the situation. “This is the interview Donald Trump didn’t want you to see. His FCC refused to air my interview with Stephen Colbert. Trump is worried we’re about to flip Texas,” Talarico wrote.

The timing adds another layer of complexity to media institutions navigating the changing regulatory landscape under the Trump administration’s broadcast guidance for interviewing political candidates.

Carr has previously criticized network talk shows, suggesting last year that investigating ABC’s “The View” over the exemption might be “worthwhile,” according to the source material. The show’s hosts have frequently criticized Trump.

The incident comes as Colbert’s tenure at CBS faces an uncertain future. The network announced last year it was canceling his show this May for financial reasons, ending a decades-old television institution. However, the timing of that announcement raised eyebrows—it came three days after Colbert criticized a settlement between Trump and Paramount Global, CBS’s parent company, over a “60 Minutes” story. Two U.S. senators publicly questioned the motives behind the cancellation, which removes one of Trump’s most prominent late-night critics from broadcast television.

Texas’ primary election is scheduled for March 3, with early voting now underway across the state. Neither CBS nor the FCC responded to requests for comment about the interview cancellation.

The situation highlights the evolving challenges facing broadcast media as they balance entertainment programming with new regulatory requirements governing political content during election cycles.