James Talarico says CBS decision to drop his ‘Late Show’ interview ‘should be alarming to all of us’

WASHINGTON, DC: Stephen Colbert, the host of ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,’ found himself at the center of an unexpected dispute this week after revealing that a planned interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico was not aired on CBS.

Colbert said the interview, taped for Monday’s episode, was effectively blocked due to concerns about broadcast regulations, a claim the network has challenged.

Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico addressed the controversy over his ‘Late Show’ interview on Tuesday, Feb 17.

James Talarico comments to the press

During a press conference before casting his vote in the Democratic primary election, the state representative criticized the network’s response.

“I don’t think it did anything to assuage the concerns that they were pressured by the most powerful man in the country to change their broadcast,” Talarico said. “And that should be alarming to all of us, whether we’re Democrats, Independents, or Republicans.”

Talarico called CBS’s decision “the most dangerous kind of cancel culture” during the Tuesday press conference. 

“President Trump and his Republican allies, they ran against cancel culture in the last presidential race,” the Democratic candidate said. “And now they are trying to control what we watch on TV, what we say, what we read. This is the most dangerous form of cancel culture because it comes from the top.”

“I think Donald Trump and his billionaire friends know that we’re about to take back Texas,” he told the crowd, which erupted in applause. 

Stephen Colbert clashes with CBS 

During the opening monologue of his Monday show, Colbert said the network’s attorneys had forbidden him from hosting the political candidate. 

“You know who is not one of my guests tonight? That’s Texas state Representative James Talarico,” Colbert told the crowd, to loud boos.

“He was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast,” he said.

The TV host accused the White House of taking steps to “silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV.”

CBS responds with clarity

In a Tuesday statement shared with The Hill, CBS denied preventing Colbert from interviewing Talarico, citing Federal Communications Commission regulations on TV interviews with political candidates. 

“The Late Show was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep James Talarico,” a spokesperson for the network said.

“The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled,” they added.