February 17, 2026
Equal time or gag order?
Stephen Colbert says CBS forbid interview of Democrat because of FCC threat
Colbert says CBS nixed Dem interview; comments explode over “equal time”
TLDR: Colbert says CBS killed a planned interview with a Democratic candidate after an FCC warning about “equal time,” and he posted the audio online. Commenters are split between “rules are rules on public airwaves” and “this is a chilling, partisan gag”—with plenty of hypocrisy callouts and late-night jokes along the way.
Stephen Colbert just lit a match on late night, telling viewers CBS blocked Texas Democrat James Talarico from appearing because of an FCC threat to enforce the “equal-time” rule on talk shows. Then he did the most Colbert thing possible: he talked about it anyway—and even dropped audio on YouTube. Drama, meet spotlight.
The comments went full fireworks. One camp is shouting “rules are rules”: as one user put it, if you use the public airwaves, you play by campaign rules—no free promo for just one candidate. Another faction is calling it censorship in a suit, slamming what they see as a partisan squeeze by FCC leadership and warning this could chill political talk across TV. The hypocrisy alarms are blaring too: critics say if this were applied evenly, partisan shows would be in trouble 24/7. Big-picture posters went even darker, calling this a slow-roll toward oligarchy via quiet regulatory pressure on media.
There’s humor in the heat, of course. Colbert’s own joke about the FCC’s “no nipples at the Super Bowl” rule got memed into “no candidates at bedtime,” and one snarker quipped the show could’ve just invited a Republican (cue: “book Ken Paxton!”). It’s a classic internet split: is this fair play or a gag order? Either way, the comments are louder than the monologue, and they’re not backing down.
Key Points
- •Stephen Colbert said CBS barred an interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico due to an FCC equal-time enforcement threat.
- •FCC Chairman Brendan Carr warned talk shows they may lose the bona fide news exemption to the equal-time rule.
- •The FCC opened an investigation into ABC’s The View after it interviewed Talarico.
- •Entertainment talk shows have historically been treated as bona fide news programs for equal-time exemption purposes.
- •Colbert said he posted the interview on YouTube after being unable to air it on CBS.