Stephen Colbert has claimed that CBS lawyers had barred him from airing an interview with Texas State Rep. James Talarico, who is running for US Senate.
The shocking move was due to FCC pressure over the agency's push to apply its "equal time" rule to late-night talk shows.
Colbert shared that the network's legal team told his show's staff to not broadcast the interview and was instructed not to raise the matter on air.
Discussing the FCC's "equal time" rule to his audience, which requires broadcast networks to provide opposing political candidates equivalent airtime, Colbert noted that talk shows had long benefitted from an exception to that requirement.
The 61-year-old also highlighted the obvious inconsistency in the FCC chair Brendar Carr's approach, noting that while the late-night talk shows were targeted the FCC chair made no move against the right-wing talk radio.
"I get this part," Colbert said. "You can't get rid of talk radio. What else would your angriest uncle do in traffic? Talk to your saddest aunt?"
Colbert characterised the FCC's decisions within a broader pattern of political pressure.
"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. He's like a toddler with too much screen time. He gets cranky and then drops a load in his diapers. So it's no surprise that two of the people most affected by this threat are me and my friend Jimmy Kimmel," the host added.
He then announced that he would conduct the Talarico interview anyway, but it would not be broadcast on CBS.
The interview would instead air on The Late Show YouTube channel after the show.
Moreover, besides the interview, Colbert was restricted from showing any image of James Talarico.
