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#StephenColbert isn’t backing down in an extraordinary public dispute with his bosses at #CBS over what he can air on his late-night talk show.

On “The Late Show” Tuesday, Colbert said he was surprised by a statement from CBS denying that its lawyers told him he couldn’t show an interview with Democratic #Texas #Senate candidate #JamesTalarico — which the host said had happened the night before.

#law #FirstAmendment #FCC #censorship #Trump #authoritarianism #fascism
https://apnews.com/article/colbert-talarico-cbs-trump-fcc-014a0531715f098fbcd7902476a22590?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=2026-02-18-Colbert-Talarico+interview

AP News

Late-night host Stephen Colbert isn't backing down from public dispute with CBS bosses

Colbert said that he was surprised by a network statement that denied Colbert had been told he couldn't air an interview with a Texas Senate candidate for fear of triggering a little-known “equal time” rule by the FCC.

Nonilex

@Nonilex@masto.ai · 5 days ago

#StephenColbert isn’t backing down in an extraordinary public dispute with his bosses at #CBS over what he can air on his late-night talk show.

AP News

Late-night host Stephen Colbert isn't backing down from public dispute with CBS bosses

FurballsNHairballs

@ChrisHolladay@mastodon.social · 5 days ago

@Nonilex
He is seriously burning CBS to the ground on his way out.
I expect RPG's and IED's to be set off in the CBS executive hallways.
Scorched Earth Soviet Style
Leave nothing standing.
CBS is fked.

Lizzie

@Lizette603_23@mastodon.social · 5 days ago

@Nonilex Guess who *I* believe?

huntingdon

@huntingdon@mstdn.social · 5 days ago

@Nonilex

CBS's lawyers, presumably at the direction of its c-suite, lying about what they told Stephen Colbert 24 hrs earlier is a game CBS cannot win.

As Lawrence O'Donnell made clear last night, CBS's lawyers aren't even getting the law right. So, unless CBS plans to remove Colbert's show by the end of the week, it should stop now.

Nonilex

@Nonilex@masto.ai · 5 days ago

#StephenColbert then took a copy of the #CBS statement, wrapped it in a dog poop bag, & tossed it away.

#Colbert had instead shown his Talarico interview on YouTube, but told viewers why he couldn’t show it on CBS. The network was concerned about #FCC Chair #BrendanCarr trying to enforce a rule that required broadcasters to give “equal time” to opposing candidates when an interview was broadcast with one of them.

#law #FirstAmendment #censorship #Trump #authoritarianism #fascism

Nonilex

@Nonilex@masto.ai · 5 days ago

“We looked & we can’t find one example of this rule being enforced for any talk show interview, not only for my entire late-night career, but for anyone’s late-night career going back to the 1960s,” #StephenColbert said.

Although #BrendanCarr said in January he was thinking about getting rid of the exemption for late-night talk shows, he hadn’t done it yet. “But #CBS generously did it for him,” Colbert said.

#law #FirstAmendment #FCC #censorship #Trump #authoritarianism #fascism

Nonilex

@Nonilex@masto.ai · 5 days ago

Not only had #CBS been aware Monday night that #Colbert was going to talk about this issue publicly, its lawyers had even approved it in his script, he said. That’s why he was surprised by the statement, which said that Colbert had been provided “legal guidance” that broadcasting the interview could trigger the equal time rule.
“I don’t know what this is about,” Colbert said. “For the record, I’m not even mad. I really don’t want an adversarial relationship with the network. I’ve never had one.”

Nonilex

@Nonilex@masto.ai · 5 days ago

As of Wednesday morning, Colbert’s YouTube interview with #Talarico had been viewed more than five million times, or roughly double what the comic’s #CBS program draws each night. The Texas Democrat also reported that he had raised $2.5 million in campaign donations in the 24 hours after the interview.

#StephenColbert #law #FirstAmendment #FCC #censorship #Trump #authoritarianism #fascism

PedestrianError :vbus: :nblvt:

@PedestrianError@towns.gay · 5 days ago

@Nonilex What an amazing win for two party white supremacist patriarchy two weeks before a hotly contested Democratic primary. This hurts his Black female opponent (who I believe has previously appeared on Colbert as a sitting member of congress but has been largely erased from this story) more than it hurts Republicans. I had somewhat mixed feelings about the primary before this stunt, but the erasure of Black women aspect now puts me firmly in Crockett's camp.

llanciawn

@llanciawn@mastodon.social · 5 days ago

@Nonilex Every time they shoot themselves in the foot they reload.

Hydrian

@hydrian@twit.social · 5 days ago

@Nonilex The #trump #fascist regimn is using this as test and will go after the #DailyShow next.

Capt. Tony

@mermaidchaser@mstdn.social · 6 days ago

@Nonilex but it’s available online

Matthew Martin

@mistersql@mastodon.social · 6 days ago

@Nonilex They should put it out on youtube

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