Stephen Colbert Slams CBS for Canning Interview With Donald Trump Critic James Talarico 

The Late Show host Stephen Colbert openly criticized CBS for blocking a planned interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, citing pressure from the Trump administration's FCC.

The network’s lawyers told Colbert he could not air the February 16 interview with Talarico and prohibited the comedian from airing — or even mentioning — the cancelation of his interview.

The comedian, however, defied the network by discussing the censorship in his monologue and releasing the full interview on YouTube, which is not subject to FCC broadcast regulations.

"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 vocally anti-Trump host, who is set to leave the network when The Late Show ends in May, added. "And because my network clearly doesn't want us to talk about this, let's talk about this."

Colbert addressed the situation with Talarico, telling him, "If people are watching this right now, it's 'cause they found us online.

The late-night star then shared a headline noting the FCC had previously signaled it would be opening a probe into Talarico's recent interview on The View.

Colbert suggested in the broadcasted segment that the reason the interview was canned was because of the FCC's "equal time" rule, which requires broadcast networks and radio stations to give equal time to all candidates in an election.

"It’s the FCC's most time-honored rule, right after 'no n------ at the Super Bowl,'" Colbert joked.

He said that talk shows have usually been given an exception, however in January, Trump-appointed FCC chairman Brendan Carr issued new guidance dropping the blanket exception because some are "motivated by purely partisan political purposes."

"Well sir, you're chairman of the FCC, so FCC you," Colbert quipped. "Because I think you are motivated by partisan purposes yourself. Sir, you smelt it 'cause you dealt it."

"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, OK? He's like a toddler with too much screentime. He gets cranky and then drops a load in his diaper,” Colbert continued.

The cancelation of The Late Show, announced in July 2025, followed Colbert’s criticism of a $16 million settlement Paramount (CBS's parent company) paid to Trump to resolve a lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview.

Trump has publicly celebrated the show's cancelation, calling for other late-night hosts like Jimmy Kimmel to face similar fates. He has previously attacked Colbert in rants, suggesting he should be "put to sleep" due to low ratings.

Talarico is running in the March 3 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat held by John Cornyn and is competing against fellow Democrat, Rep. Jasmine Crockett.