Stephen Colbert said CBS‘s legal department spiked his interview with a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate over the FCC chairman’s warning that the agency would pursue enforcement of “equal time” rules on late-night and daytime talk shows. The FCC’s sole Democratic commissioner, Anna Gomez, weighed in on the issue — calling the move to “censor” Colbert another example of “corporate capitulation” to the Trump administration.
“This is yet another troubling example of corporate capitulation in the face of this Administration’s broader campaign to censor and control speech,” Gomez said Tuesday. “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 continued, “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.”
Reps for CBS and Paramount Skydance did not respond to requests for comment.
On Monday’s episode of “The Late Show,” Colbert said that CBS lawyers had prevented him from airing an interview with Texas state Rep. James Talarico, who is running for U.S. Senate, over the FCC’s “equal time” warnings — and that they told Colbert specifically to not to raise the matter on air.
Colbert noted that late-night shows have been had a long-time exemption from the FCC’s “equal time” rule, which requires news programs broadcast networks to provide opposing political candidates equivalent airtime. “That’s crucial. How else were voters supposed to know back in ’92 that Bill Clinton sucked at saxophone?” Colbert joked.
Colbert called FCC Chairman Brendan Carr a “smug bowling pin,” citing the Jan. 21 letter in which Carr suggested the exemption should no longer apply to programs he characterized as being “motivated by partisan purposes.” Colbert addressed the Carr on the CBS show: “FCC you… because I think you are motivated by partisan purposes yourself, sir. Hey, you smelt it ’cause you dealt it. You are Dutch-ovening America’s airwaves.”
Colbert also announced the Talarico interview would be available on “The Late Show’s” YouTube channel after the show, where it remains available at press time.